Scan 84
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1908
6 lines. Read by computer on 9 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1The slave song is a music of the past, for these songs peculiar to plantation life in the South have faded away with the conditions that fostered them. Under the altered conditions the negro has undergone a marked change which has resulted in a dearth of song production. What he eventually will achieve musically remains for the years to tell. Orators, writers, thinkers and poets have come from the ranks of the American negro, but the composer is yet to arise who will take these bits of melody, typical of his race, and on them construct compositions of true artistic worth.
3Though not of American birth, the name of Coleridge-Taylor may here be mentioned in this connection. Of African descent, Coleridge-Taylor has taken negro melodies as themes from which he has evolved many charming compositions. He is the first negro to win renown in the field of art music. His piano transcriptions of such songs as "Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel," "Steal Away," "Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child." are really gems of their class.
5Among the composers who have used negro themes as material in composition Antonin Dvořák ranks highest. His "New World" symphony is founded chiefly on such themes, and America owes much to him for showing the possibilities in the use of this material. Following his illustrious example other composers have come forward and scored successes in this line of endeavor. Among them may be mentioned G. W. Chadwick, who made use of such themes in his second symphony; Henry Schoenefeld with his "Sunny South" overture, "Rural" symphony, and sonata for piano and violin; and E. R. Kroeger in his "Ten American Sketches." From the efforts of these men it is to be seen that the negro melodies offer material capable of being developed with artistic results. Doubtless as America comes to produce something approaching nationalism in music more and more use will be made of this valuable thematic material.
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