Choral Journal Article Preview: Unaccompanied Non-Idiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers

The latest issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “Unaccompanied Non-Idiomatic Choral Music of Black Composers” by Marques L.A. Garrett. You can read it in its entirety online at acda.org/choraljournal. Following is a portion from the introduction, including a list of pieces mentioned in detail within the article.

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For the purpose of this article, non-idiomatic refers to music that is not in a popular idiomatic style. The idiomatic styles of Black composers include spirituals, gospel, and jazz, among others. The non-idiomatic songs may have influences from those styles but are not considered idiomatic either in totality by analysis or by the composer specifically. The extent to which Black composers are often represented through idiomatic styles primarily is a curiosity worth further inquiry. The contributions of Black composers to classical music include but are not limited to operas, piano suites, symphonies, concertos, art songs, anthems, motets, part songs, madrigals, choral art songs, cantatas, and oratorios.

The following eight unaccompanied choral works surveyed in order of original publication year represent living and deceased composers, female and male composers, different tempos, songs ranging from easy to difficult, and both sacred and secular texts. Songs written in the style of a spiritual or work song, but are completely original, are outside the purview of this article while additional representative works are excluded to create a sample.1

Ave Maria (1930)
R. Nathaniel Dett

He Stooped to Bless (1936)
Edward Margetson

How Stands the Glass Around? (1956)
Ulysses Kay

Psalm 57 (1972)
Betty Jackson King

Lord, We Give Thanks to Thee (1973)
Undine Smith Moore

Hehlehlooyuh (1978)
James Furman

The 23rd Psalm (1994)
Bobby McFerrin

Nocturne (1994)
Adolphus Hailstork

1. Songs written in the style of a spiritual or work song include
   Ain’t Got Time to Die by Hall Johnson, Great God A’mighty by
   Jester Hairston, and I’m Gonna Sing ‘Til the Spirit Moves in
   My Heart by Moses Hogan

View this full article (and more!) in the November 2020 issue of Choral Journal, available online at acda.org