R. Nathaniel Dett: African American Pianist, Composer, and Choral Director

R. Nathaniel Dett African American Pianist, Composer, and Choral Director Library of Congress photo The name R. Nathaniel Dett meant nothing to me until I saw that he was credited with the arrangement of “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” copyrighted in 1936 and reproduced in Lift Every Voice and Sing: An African American Hymnal.1 This intrigued me because that version has a fourth stanza in addition to the familiar three: The brightest day that ever I saw, (Coming for to carry me home) When Jesus washed my sins away, (Coming for to carry me home). 1 Lift Every Voice and Sing: An African American Hymnal (NY: Church Hymnal Corp., 1993). The additional stanza appears also in the African American Heritage Hymnal (Chicago: GIA Publications, 2001). The lyrics in both hymnals are identical to those published in the original Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Jubilee Singers of Fisk University collected by Theo. F. Steward (NY & Chicago: Biglow & Main, 1872). Most hymnals omit the stanza, as do most singers. One notable exception is Etta James who includes it in her uptempo rendition after the initial slow refrain. Beyonce, playing Etta in Cadillac Records, for acceleration switches to an entirely different song, “Swing Down Chariot,” a move popularized by the Golden Gate Quartet in 1946 that quickly became a staple in the repertoire of white Southern gospel quartets. 2 When it comes to African American spirituals, James Weldon Johnson has much higher name recognition than R. Nathaniel Dett. Yet he and Dett were contemporaries; both produced collections of spirituals; both wrote on the spirituals as religious folk music. Johnson lauds the role of the Jubilee Singers of Nashville’s Fisk University in creating public awareness of the spirituals through their fund-raising concerts in America and Europe, 1871-1875. Dett writes as one who carried on the Jubilee choral tradition throughout his professional teaching career, mostly as music director of Fisk’s sister institution founded by the American Missionary Association, Hamilton Institute in Virginia.2 So, who was R. Nathaniel Dett, and how did he make black history? The township of Drummondsville, Ontario, where Dett was born in 1882, was a terminal for the Underground Railroad; among Dett’s ancestors were escapees from the slave-holding South. When the young Nathaniel showed exceptional talent and interest in playing the piano, his family moved to the American side of Niagra Falls in order to facilitate his formal piano study at the Halstead Conservatory in Lockport, New York. In 1903 the 21-year-old Dett matriculated at Oberlin Conservatory as a piano and composition major. In 1908 he became the first black student to complete the five-year program and be awarded the B.Mus. degree. While touring as a concert pianist following graduation he met soprano E. Azalia Hackley, who kindled his interest in black folk music. On three separate occasions Dett wrote articles on the subject of the spirituals as black folk music. The first was his 1918 essay five years into his tenure at Hampton Institute on “The Emancipation of Negro Music,” prepared as a five-page contribution to a U.S. Department of Education pamphlet on “American Pageants, 2 For Dett’s full curriculum vitae, see Appendix One. 3 Festivals, and Plays.” It was published in The Southern Workman (vol. 47, 1918) and won Dett the Boudoin prize at Harvard in 1920. The essay begins with this lead paragraph: There is hardly any folk music which so poignantly touches all the fundamentals of life as that of the American Negro. … [I]t is most fortunate that America, with her great heterogeneous population, should be the possessor of this one vital thing, truly indigenous to the soil; it is equally unfortunate that attempts at exploitation should have first been made in performances meant to ridicule or caricature (172). Dett was referring to the huge commercial success of such companies as the Christy Minstrels, who from 1842-1850 had an unprecedented run in New York City, bolstered by the compositions of Stephen Foster. Here’s the problem: “Though devoted to a portrayal of Negro life and emotions, Foster’s songs cannot possibly be classed as real Negro music.” Whatever intention there may have been to promote understanding through appreciation of black culture, the effect was precisely the opposite as it undervalued the indigenous music of African slaves in America. An emancipated people deserved a parallel emancipation of their music. Dett describes the breakthrough as follows. With the advent of the Jubilee Singers who set out from Fisk University, Nashville, Tenn., October 6, 1871, under the leadership of Mr. George L. White, a Union soldier who later became a Fisk teacher, an altogether new idea of Negro music was given the world. … The Negro spirituals which they introduced were then but little known and their novelty, as exhibited in the peculiar rhythm, the quaint texts, and the unfailing heart-touching appeal, excited almost instant public favor (173). [T]he name “Jubilee Singers,” which Mr. White had suggested for his little band, proved as popular with the public as with the singers themselves; and also, as the Negro had but recently been emancipated, it was a source of astonishment to many that in so short a space of time real slaves could take on so much that evidenced intelligence and culture as did the singing and deportment of these black pioneers (173-74). A great deal of credit belongs to the American Missionary Association founded in 1846 to protest slavery and to educate the slaves when most of the other mission agencies had acquiesced in the institution. They persevered in the face of severe persecution and eventually succeeded in planting seventeen academies and 4 normal schools in the South and seven institutions for collegiate and theological education, including Fisk University in Nashville and Hampton Institute in Virginia.3 The well-trained Jubilee Singers of Fisk and Hampton succeeded in “the emancipation of Negro music from the chains of false and often low ideals set upon it by popular minstrelsy, and in the establishment of it as a wonderful thing, a gift, and art, a glorious contribution to this nation and the world” (176). Dett elaborates on this theme in the forward to his own collection of spirituals, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute (Hampton, Va.: Hampton Institute Press, 1927), calling attention at the outset to the topical arrangement of the songs by which they are recognized as “actual hymns”—an idea inspired by their use at Hampton Institute. The captions, he says, “are such as might be found in any church hymnal and while it is true that the songs of themselves offer much that is novel in the way of poetry, melody, harmony, and rhythm, fundamentally it will be discovered that they correspond in Sentiment with all the basic ideas of orthodox religious dogma” (x).4 The groupings underscore how much those basic ideas have been have been shaped by the black experience. Because the topics are arranged in alphabetical order, “Hymns of Tribulation” is the final section; logically it should take first place because of its poignant expressions of the soul-sorrow of slavery.5 See especially “Hear de Lambs a-Cryin’.” As is typically the case with folk music, the lyrics are by an unknown bard. The call-and-response format of the spirituals bears witness to their composition for group singing to be passed on in oral tradition. “Hear de Lambs,” 3 The other five institutions of higher education founded by the AMA were Berea College in Kentucky, Atlanta University in Georgia, Talladega College in Alabama, Tougaloo University in Mississippi, and Straight University in New Orleans. 4 See Appendix Two for a complete list of the hymns Dett included under each topic. 5 “Nobody Knows the Trouble I See, Lord!” is No, 1 in J. B. T. Marsh, The Jubilee Singers with Their Songs, rev. ed (Boston: Houghton, 1880; reprinted NY: AMS Press, 1971), providing the key to how the collection as a whole should be viewed. 5 which could well be a seminary commencement hymn, begins as usual with the refrain; then the soloist takes the lead on the stanzas, answered by the chorus before all join in the refrain. Our Saviour spoke dese words so sweet (Oh, shepherd, feed-a my sheep) Said, “Peter, if ye love me, feed my sheep, (Oh, shepherd, feed-a my sheep). Oh, Lord, I love Thee, Thou dost know, (Oh, shepherd, feed-a my sheep) Oh, give me grace to love Thee mo’; (Oh, shepherd, feed-a my sheep). I don’ know what you want to stay here for, (Oh, shepherd, feed-a my sheep) For dis vain world’s no friend to grace, (Oh, shepherd, feed-a my sheep). If I only had wings like Noah’s dove, (Oh, shepherd, feed-a my sheep) I’d fly away to de heavens above, (Oh, shepherd, feed-a my sheep). There are two more stanzas on following the example of Jesus travelling the “lonesome road” of suffering that led to the cross. Hardly any spiritual captures the cruelty of the institution of slavery that is forever the backdrop of all the hymns better than another hymn in this section, “Mother, Is Massa Gwine to Sell Us?” The tribulation section includes the familiar “Nobody Knows de Trouble I’ve Seen,” which Dett notes was a favorite in the Sea Islands. As sung by the Hampton Jubilees, it includes a second stanza that has dropped down the memory hole. One day when I was walkin’ along, (Oh, yes, Lord) De element opened, an’ de Love came down, (Oh, yes, Lord). I never shall forget that day, (Oh, yes, Lord) When Jesus washed my sins away, (Oh, yes, Lord). 6 The second couplet (I never shall forget that day / When Jesus washed my sins away) appears also in “Reign, Massa Jesus” under Hymns of Aspiration, but is missing from “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” where it might be expected. It is, however, included in the rendition recorded by the Fisk Jubilee Quartet in 1909, which in the best folk tradition makes a slight emendation by inserting the stock rhyming version of the first clause. I never shall forget that day, (Coming for to carry me home) When Jesus washed my sins away, (Coming for to carry me home).6 The image of Elijah being taken to glory in a chariot of fire (2 Kings 2:11-12) made a powerful impression on the imagination of slaves as a metaphor for death: being transported by angels from the trials of earth to the triumph of heaven.7 In addition to the five references in the section on Death, there are scattered references in “Run, Mary, run,” “I don’t want to stay here no longer,” “Band ob Gideon,” “De church of God,” “A wheel in a wheel,” and “Roll de ole chariot along.” Dett’s final contribution to the advancement of the spirituals as an art form was The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals (Groups 1-4) published in 1936 in the prestigious Hall & McCreary Auditorium Series of choral music. The original booklets are hard to find, though I was able to examine the first in the series at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis. Fortunately the selections, except a few of the most familiar, were republished as Negro Spirituals, ed. R. Nathanael Dett (London: Blandford Press, 1959), for which Dett wrote the preface. See Appendix Three for The Table of Contents of the four booklets. 6 A link to the recording, which may be the first of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, now a quartet under the direction of John Wesley Work II, is provided in the pull-down menu. 7 The image was not lost on William Shakespeare who penned the famous lines respecting the death of Hamlet: “Good night, sweet prince, and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.” 7 In the preface to the second book of his collection of American Negro Spirituals, James Weldon Johnson observed that musicians have developed black musical forms—ragtime, jazz, and blues—into American popular music, and asks with reference to the spirituals: “Why cannot this nobler music of the Negro in the hand of our serious composers be wrought into the greater American music that has so long been looked for?” (22-23). Johnson goes on to venture the opinion, “I do not think the composers of any country have at their hands an unexplored mine of richer materials than American composers have in the Spirituals.” After citing a few examples, including “Go Down, Moses,” Johnson continues: “I do not believe American composers will always overlook and pass over this fund of source material” (24). That was 1926. The next year, as we have seen, Dett published his own collection of Negro folksongs, making the case for them as serious choral music, and by which time he had already composed In the Bottoms, a suite for piano (1913), Listen to the Lambs, a choral work for soprano and eight-part mixed chorus (1914), a classical motet, The Chariot Jubilee for tenor solo, mixed chorus, and orchestra (1919), and the anthem Don’t Be Weary, Traveller (1920). In what may be described as a fulfillment of Johnson’s prophecy, in 1932 Dett composed The Ordering of Moses, an oratorio that develops the theme of “Go Down Moses,” the world premiere of which at Carnegie Hall was broadcast live on NBC in 1937. The concert was suspiciously interrupted after 40 minutes. Being a landmark event in the dark era of Jim Crow, it was taken as acquiescence in racial discrimination as a result of pressure on NBC from the dominant culture. In affirmation of the significance of Dett as a composer, the world premiere concert was recreated in 2014. See pull-down menu for links it and other concert pieces by Dett. 8 APPENDIX ONE Biographical Timeline8 1882 Born Oct 11 in Drummondsville, Ontario, near Niagra Falls, of slave ancestry. 1901-1903 Studies piano at the Oliver Willis Halstead Conservatory of Music in Lockport, NY 1903 Enrolls in Oberlin Conservatory of Music as piano and composition major. 1908 1911 Receives B.Mus. degree from Oberlin, Phi Beta Kappa; begins teaching at Lane College in TN. Continues teaching at Lincoln Institute (now Lincoln University) in Jefferson City, MO. Publishes The Album of a Heart, 30 poems on love, nature, philosophy, and music. 1913 1914 Begins career at Hampton Institute; publishes In the Bottoms suite for piano. Leads Hampton Singers (40 voices) in concert at Carnegie Hall. Composes Listen to the Lambs for soprano solo and 8-part mixed chorus. Marries pianist Helen Elise Smith, first African American graduate of Damosh Institute of Musical Art (absorbed in 1926 by Julliard School of Music). Composes motet The Chariot Jubilee for tenor solo, mixed chorus, and orchestra 1916 1919 1920-1921 Studies at Harvard and the American Conservatory in Fountainbleau, France. 1920 Wins Francis Boott prize at Harvard for composition Don’t be Weary, Traveller. Wins Boudoin prize at Harvard for thesis The Emancipation of Negro Music (published 1918). 1924 Receives honorary doctorate from Howard University. 1926 Receives appointment as director of Music Department at Hampton Institute. Is awarded honorary doctorate in music from Oberlin Conservatory. Leads Hampton Singers (80 voices) in concert at invitation of Library of Congress. Publishes Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute. 1927 1930 Leads Hampton Singers (40 voices) on Geo. F. Peabody European tour (6 wks, 7 countries). En route to embarking in NYC, chorus sings for President Hoover on White House lawn. 1932 Receives M.Mus. from Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY following the composition of his oratorio The Ordering of Moses; resigns from Hampton, resides in NY. 1933 Conducts 16-voice chorus for Stromberg-Carlson’s weekly NBC broadcasts. 1936 Publishes The Dett Collection of Negro Spirituals, 4 booklets in the Hall & McCreary Auditorium Series of choral works. 1937-1942 Choral director at Bennett College, Greensboro, NC; tours with women’s chorus 1940 1937 World Premiere of The Ordering of Moses at Carnegie Hall by Talladega College Choir and Mobile Symphony Orchestra; live NBC broadcast is interrupted after 40 minutes “due to previous commitments.” [Janelle Gelfand, “Cincy in NYC,” cincinnati.org, May 5, 2014.] 1943 Serves as choral advisor to USO; dies in Battle Creek, MI on tour with WAC chorus. 8 Compiled by Prof. David Clyde Jones, Covenant Theological Seminary from Eileen Southern, The Music of Black Americans, 3rd ed. (1997) 278-79; Library of Congress Performing Arts Encyclopedia (updated 08-26-2011); nathanieldett.org, maintained by pianist Clipper Erickson who recorded My Cup Runneth Over: The Complete Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett; and Wm J. Zick, webmaster of African Heritage in Classical Music at AfriClassical.com, (updated 01/09/2016). The latter site includes a comprehensive list of Dett’s works by the late American musicologist and professor of music history, Dominique-René de Lerma. Revised Feb 18, 2016 9 APPENDIX TWO Topical Index of Dett’s Hampton Institute Collection, 1927 Dett, R. Nathaniel, ed. Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as sung at Hampton Institute. Hampton, Va.: Hampton Institute Press, 1927. Hymns of Admonition, pages 2-30 Babylon’s fallin’ De ole sheep done know de road Gwine to live humble to de Lord If you love God, serve him Keep a-inchin’ along Live humble Oh, de downward road is crowded Run to Jesus (Fisk collection) Oh, sinner, you’d better get ready Run, Mary, run Seek and ye shall find (Tuskegee collection) Stay in de field Sun don’t set in de mornin’ Walk you in de light Walk togedder children You goin’ to reap jus’ what you sow Let us cheer the weary traveler Hymns of Aspiration, 31-53 Don’t leave me, Lord Good Lord, shall I ever be de one? I want to be ready Gwine up I am seekin’ for a city I don’t want to stay here no longer (aka “The Danville Chariot”) I would like to read In bright mansions above Let de heaven light shine on me Look away Reign, Massa Jesus Lord, I want to be a Christian Roll, Jordan, roll Want to go to heaven when I die Hymns on Biblical Themes, 54-73 Daniel saw the stone Down by the river Band ob Gideon De ole ark a-moverin’ along Ezekiel saw de wheel I heard the preaching of the elder John saw Little David, play on your harp My Lord delivered Daniel Oh, he raise-a poor Lazarus Peter on the sea ‘Raslin’ Jacob See fo’ an’ twenty elders There were ten virgins Wonder where is good ole Daniel 10 Hymns of the Christian Life, 74-77 I ain’t goingt’ study war no more Lord, until I reach my home Tell Jesus Hymns of Christmas, 78-79 Go tell it on the mountain Rise up, shepherd, an’ foller Hymns of the Church, 80-81 De church of God ‘Tis the ole ship of Zion Hymns of Consolation, 82-89 De winter’ll soon be ober Fighting on Most done travelliing There is a balm in Gilead (3 stanzas) We are almost home Hymns of Death, 90-102 Good news, de chariot’s coming In the kingdom Oh, de hebben is shinin’ Oh, give way, Jordan Oh, wasn’t dat a wide river Swing Low, chariot Swing low, sweet chariot Swing low, sweet chariot Hymns of the Death of Christ, 103-106 But he ain’t comin’ here t’ die no mo’ Did you hear how dey crucified my Lord? My soul wants something that’s new Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Hymns of Deliverance, 107-112 Children, we all shall be free Go down, Moses Oh, freedom! Steal away to Jesus Slav’ry chain Hymns of Encouragement, 113-118 Don’t be weary, traveller Don’t get weary We are building on a Rock We are walking in de Light (Tuskegee collection) We are climbing Jacob’s ladder Hymns of the Faith and Fellowship, 119-123 Don’t call de roll (till I get there) I am goin’ to join in this army (of my Lord) I’ll be there in the morning (Tuskegee collection) I’m gwine to jine de great ‘sociation I’ve got a mother in de heaven Hymns of the Future Life, 124-130 By and by Goin’ to shout all over God’s heav’n Oh, when I git t’ heaven In that beautiful world on high 11 Hymns of Invitation, 131-144 Git on board, little children Come down, sinner Ef you want to get to hebben Listen to the lambs View de land What yo’ gwine t’ do when de lamp burn down? Who’ll jine de union? Somebody’s knocking at your door Hymns of Jesus Christ, 145-151 He’s the lily of the valley He is King of kings King Emanuel Ride on, Jesus My Lord’s a-riding all the time (learned from Fisk University) Why, he’s the Lord of lords (Fisk Jubilee Collection) Hymns of Judgment, 153-166 Going to heaven Go, Mary, an’ toll de bell In dat great gittin’-up mornin’ My Lord, what a morning! Judgment Put John on de islan’ Oh, the rocks and the mountains Stars in the elements Sweet turtle dove, or Jerusalem mornin’ When the general roll is called Hymns of Meditation, 167-173 Deep river Dere’s a little wheel a-turnin’ in my heart (Tuskegee collection) Ev’ry time I feel the Spirit Poor Pilgrim I’ve been a-list’ning all de night long Pray is the key of heaven Sometimes I feel like a motherless child Where shall I be when de firs’ trumpet soun’? Hymns for Occasions, 174-182 Bright sparkles in de churchyard (medley) Grace before meat at Hampton They look like men of war There’s a meeting here tonight Hymn of Penitence, 183 ‘Tis me (O Lord, standing in the need of pray’r) Hymns of Pilgrimage, 184-193 A wheel in a wheel Hail! Hail! Hail! I’m a-rolling (Fisk Jubilee Collection) I’m a-trav’ling to the grave (Fisk Jubilee Collection) Sweet Canaan Oh, stand the storm Oh, Jerusalem! Pilgrim’s song (I’m a poor wayfarin’ stranger) Roll de ole chariot along 12 Hymns of Praise, 194-199 Ride on (ride on, King Emanuel) Let us praise him Zion, weep a-low Rise an’ shine (an’ give God de glory) Hymns of Religion, 200-201 Ole-time religion (Gimme dat) Oh, religion is a fortune Hymns of Religious Experience, 202-212 I couldn’t hear nobody pray I heard from heaven today Hear de angels singin’ I know the Lord’s laid his hand on me Leanin’ on de Lord Oh, yes! (call & response, many stanzas) Hymn of the Resurrection, 213-218 Dust an’ ashes (annual Easter Sunday anthem at Hampton Institute) Hymns of the Second Coming, 219-221 Oh, yes, yonder comes my Lord Don’t you view dat ship a-come a-sailin’? Hymns of Tribulation, 222-236 Hard trials Hear de Lambs a-cryin’ I’ve been toilin’ at de hill Keep me from sinkin’ down Like a rough and a rolling sea Mother, is massa gwine to sell us? My way’s cloudy Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen No more auction block (Fisk Jubilee Collection) Soon I will be done I’m so glad trouble don’t last always I’m troubled in mind Lord, have mercy Appendix Hymns of Aspiration Roll, Jordon, roll, i Want to go to heaven when I die, ii Hymns of Christmas Go tell it on the mountain, iii Rise up, shepherd, an’ foller, iv Hymns of Death Swing low, sweet chariot, v Hymns of the Death of Christ Were you there when they crucified my Lord, vi Hymns of Deliverance Steal away to Jesus, vii Hymns of Judgment My Lord, what a morning! viii 13 Hymn of Penitence ‘Tis me, ix Hymns of Religious Experience I couldn’t hear nobody pray, x-xi Hymns of Tribulation Keep me from sinkin’ down, xii Closer “For the closing piece of this volume, I have chosen a melody some years ago by Dr. Robert R. Moton, principal of Tuskegee Institute, while he was yet Commandant at Hampton. For several reasons its inclusion, especially as L’Envoi, seems appropriate: first, because of the ontributor who, probably more than any other person, has had the greatest experience in conducting these songs under circumstances most conducive to bringing out the best in them; second, because of the beauty of both tune and words; and last, because it seems best to express that philosophy characteristic of the Negro in his rudest estate, which in a most remarkable way sensed and voiced the transitory nature of human existence.” L’Envoi, xiii An old Negro melody transcribed from the singing of Dr. Robert Russa Moton, Principal, Tuskegee Institute. Set in the form of a chorale by R. Nathaniel Dett. Second verse added from a hymn by Rev. Horatius Bonar. I’m a-going to travel, I am ready to fly; Come quickly to bear me, To God in the sky. This is not my place of resting, Mine’s a city yet to come; Onward to it I am hasting, To my eternal home. Prof. David Clyde Jones Covenant Theological Seminary February 15, 2016 14