“The Folk Songs of Our Southern Negro.” [College Term Paper]

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College paper by a Smith College student writing of African-American musical tradition as seen from her perspective. The author puts forth the opening ideas that the songs of the Southern Blacks are “the only real native folk-songs of the United States.” Further, the “negro has a latent power – music is in his soul. Added to this is a remarkably well-developed rhythmical sense. Motion and song are inseparable to the negro; there is always a regular rhythm… [They sing] straight-forward, or slurred…their voices are usually soft and husky; the basses rich and sonorous, the women’s with a pathetic timbre, becoming harsh and strident if forced.”

To reinforce her arguments, Fryberger pastes upon numerous leaves various clipped manuscript scores with lyrics she has accomplished. Spirituals, secular songs involving animals and folklore, and work songs (“gangs in the fields, on the road…in the turpentine camps of Florida, in the tobacco factories…”) are all given an examination.

Into the mix of all of this are ideas of the music of Anton Dvorak and his reflections upon African-American folk songs. The final sheet presents a reference list, revealing guide posts used by this college student to inform her writing.

One undergraduate’s understanding of Black America’s musical tradition of the 19th to early 20th century.

Price: $75.00