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The Books Of American Negro Spirituals

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Contributors

By James Weldon Johnson

By J. Rosamond Johnson

Formats and Prices

On Sale
Dec 18, 2002
Page Count
384 pages
Publisher
Da Capo
ISBN-13
9780306812026

Price

$21.99

Price

$28.99 CAD

Format

Trade Paperback

Format:

Trade Paperback $21.99 $28.99 CAD

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This stirring collection of Negro spirituals, edited by the great Negro poet James Weldon Johnson and arranged for voice and piano by his brother J. Rosamond Johnson, presents 120 of these melodic — and intensely moving — religious folk songs for contemporary performance. The original language has been faithfully preserved in this convenient performing edition, so that the spirituals can be sung today exactly as they were more than a hundred years ago. Included in this special, two-volumes-in-one publication are such perennial favorites as Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Deep River, Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho, and Go Down Moses — songs handed down from generation to generation in a rich oral tradition, and painstakingly assembled and edited for the enjoyment of future generations. The songs are prefaced by James Weldon Johnson’s masterful discussions of their origins, musical quality, and historical significance. Above all, he stresses the essential dignity of the Negro spirituals, which, though no doubt inspired by the religious faith of their masters, — are purely and solely the creation of the American Negro.

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James Weldon Johnson

About the Author

James Weldon Johnson (1871–1938) was an American writer, lawyer and civil rights activist born in Jacksonville, Florida. He was the first Executive Secretary of the NAACP and was a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. His best-known works include The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912, republished in 1927), the poetry collection God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse (1927), and the anthology he compiled and edited, The Book of American Negro Poetry (1922).

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J. Rosamond Johnson

About the Author

Learn more about this author