While the songs of the American Indian are of questionable value musically, those of the negro, another peculiarly American song product, are of undoubted worth. The coming of the negro to America has, served to introduce into our musical life features which are unique in the annals of history. From his advent may be traced influences which have had a marked effect in the production of music both of a popular and of a more pretentious character in this country.
America received its first importation of negro slaves in 1619 and these unfortunate people brought with them their own crude songs. Of all the undeveloped races the African negro seems to have been the most gifted musically, for his primitive melodies resemble those of the whites more closely than do those of any similar people. In his native home the negro made use of music in his incantations and religious observances much after the same manner as did the Indian in America. When first brought to this country it was but natural that he should cling to his Voodooism — the species of idolatry and superstition which constituted his religion. Connected with its rites were many weird chants which served to form the foundation of the music which developed under his new environment.
In spite of the continued contact with the whites, the negro melodies as we have them today still retain their exotic traits. In the older ones there is more of the barbaric character, while those of a later date show the influence of the music of the white masters. Again, in the dances of the negro are to be seen traces of their barbaric origin. The pantomime so generally associated with many songs points to derivation from the same sources. In common with those of all uncultured peoples, the negro melodies frequently are formed on the pentatonic scale, in which the fourth and seventh tones are omitted.
The first instruments used in this country by the negro slaves were patterned after those of the land from which they had come. Two kinds, or rather two sizes of drums were used, which were fashioned of hollowed logs, over one end of which was stretched a sheep or goat skin. These drums were not played in upright position but were laid on the ground and the player bestrode them, beating them with fists and feet, slowly on the large instrument and more rapidly on the smaller one. The small drum was often made from a section of the bamboo tree, hence the name bamboula, given to the dance which commonly was performed to the accompaniment of this drum.
Rattles similar to those of the Indian also were used. Another instrument, if such it may be called, was formed of the jawbone of some animal, such as the horse or mule, over the teeth of which a piece of metal was rattled. The morimbabrett was an instrument capable of producing something approaching melody. It was formed of a shallow box of thin wood about eight inches long by four or five wide, across which, under a single strand of wire, were placed several sections of reed of graduated lengths. The per-former plucked the ends of the reeds with his thumb nails and so produced the music.
In Thomas Jefferson's Notes on Virginia (1784) he speaks of the negro as being naturally musical, and adds : " the instrument proper to them is the banjar, which they brought hither from Africa." This " banjar " or banjo was of four strings or possibly fewer in the earlier specimens ; the head was covered with rattlesnake skin, the instrument in general being very similar to one in use by the Chinese. Late writers on the subject scout the idea of the banjo being the negroes' instrument, but there is no doubt that an instrument such as that described above was used by the slaves. Being of African origin it may naturally be supposed that it was tuned differently from our modern banjo and was played in the style of a melodic rather than of a harmonic instrument. The violin may be cited as a type of melodic instrument, as it is used principally to produce melody, while the banjo is commonly employed as a harmonic instrument, or one used in producing harmonies or chords. The musical efforts of the negro being essentially melodic, this may explain the stand taken by those who insist that the banjo was not devised by them.
Another instrument of the negro was a sort of Pan's pipe formed from two joints of the brake cane and designated quills. When he had become thoroughly familiar with the music of the whites, however, the negro seems to have found in the violin the instrument best suited to his needs. At the same time the triangle, bones, tambourine, jew's-harp, tin whistle, in fact all the " toy " instruments were brought into use.
It was not until about the middle of the Nineteenth Century that any effort was put forth in the direction of research regarding the music of the American negro. His songs had already become incorporated into the music of the whites and had been accepted as a part of our musical heritage. While not of strictly American origin they have undoubtedly gone to form the foundation of such folk-song literature as this country possesses.
The negro naturally is a care-free, happy, cheerful individual, but mirth and laughter find little expression in the song of a people long depressed with thoughts of exile, and unhappy under oppression with no promise of alleviation.
Songs born under such conditions naturally express, both in words and music, a spirit of resignation touched with yearnings to reach eventually the land of Canaan, which promised not so much a reward of virtue as freedom from bondage. That is why the great majority of slave songs are semi-religious in character. Where the negro did voice a happy mood his expression took the form of words conjured up by his ludicrous imagination and were humorous rather than witty.
In order to form a true conception of negro songs it is necessary to hear them sung by their creators, for the negro possesses a peculiar quality of voice which is next to impossible to imitate. He has, too, a manner of singing which is equally characteristic. Peculiar sounds are interjected, slurring from one note to another and swelling on emphatic words are common effects. When singing in chorus the leader starts the verse, the others joining in where fancy leads them, sometimes following the principal melody and again improvising parts, the general ensemble serving to produce unique harmony. It is strange how these untrained singers, in spite of their apparently haphazard manner of "joining in," will always keep the most perfect time and will rarely produce discords. In the matter of rhythm the negro seems to be more universally gifted than any other race.
The prevalent use of the minor mode is another characteristic of his music. It undoubtedly comes from two sources : first, from the fact that many of his melodies are formed in the pentatonic scale common to all uncultured peoples ; second, on account of the sorrows and tribulations resultant from his particular environment, the minor key best expressing the feelings produced by such conditions. Triple time is rarely used, the large majority of songs having either two or four beats to the measure. Another feature of the rhythm is the common use of syncopations such as are found in the so-called " rag-time " music of today, which feature found its source in the negro melodies.
Song was to the negro the sole means of expressing his emotions and feelings, and from these songs may be formed the truest judgment of his character and disposition. In them is voiced the childlike simplicity and faith of a people as yet on the borderland of enlightenment. It is song which is intimately connected with the singer's work and his play, his joy and his sorrow, his expression of things temporal and things spiritual.
The Slave Songs edited by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison, and published about 1867, represent, with a few exceptions, melodies taken from negro sources, although the direct connecting link between native African music and that of the American slave song itself is missing. The earlier songs seem to have preserved a kind of individuality, for while there was intercourse between the various plantations — slaves being sold from one to the other — the melodies seem to have been little affected by it, many of them retaining distinctly local features.
The " Sorrow Songs " of the negro, the oldest of the slave songs to survive, are permeated with a strain of suggestive sadness, and although few allusions are made to slavery itself, yet it requires no great mental acuteness to discover the yearning for relief from his surroundings, as well as the heart-throb when ties of home and family, no matter how simple nor how rude these may have been, were ruthlessly severed. Even the reading of the words of many of these songs, devoid of poetical treatment as they may appear, conveys to the mind a pathos, which regardless of the source from which they emanated, makes it appeal to humanity at large.
In many of these songs there may easily be detected the doctrine of the fatalist giving place to the yearning after things spiritual and the hope and faith of the life to come. At moments, even in the most despairing of the " Sorrow Songs," there floats out a triumphant note, as if the veil of darkness suddenly had been rent, and some fair world beyond had revealed itself to view. One of these inspirational moments is readily to be perceived in the following song, the first line of which is sung in slow recitative style, while the other lines, serving as a refrain and repeated several times, convey the mood characteristic of the plantation negro— the momentary drifting from sadness to joy:
Nobody knows who I am, who I will be till de comin' day,
O de heav'n-bells ringin'!
De sing-sol-singin'!
Heav'n-bells a-ringin' in mah soul.
Beside the " Slave Songs " there were " Sper'chels," which were sung under great religious excitement — death, the resurrection, and Satan, being the favorite themes. The negro utilized his satanic majesty in song much in the same way that he was introduced in the " miracle plays " of medieval Europe, as a source of amusement as well as of terror:
O, Satan comes, like a busy ole man,
Hal-ly, O hal-ly, O Hal-lelu!
He gets you down at the foot o' de hill,
Hal-ly, O hal-ly, O Hal-lelu!
Many of the early negro songs were extemporaneous outbursts of emotion while laboring under excitement, usually of a religious nature. One of their best known " Sper'chels " is said to have originated with an old negro slave, whose favorite subject was the final judgment. While at one of the cabin meetings he composed the following words, setting them to a tune of his own extemporizing:
I'm gwine to tell you 'bout de comin' ob de Savior,
Fare-you-well, Fare-you-well!
Dar's a better day a-comin', Fare-you-well,
Fare-you-well! Says Fader, I'm tired o' bearin',
Fare-you-well, Fare-you-well!
Tired o' bearin' fo' po' sinners, Fare-you-well, Fare-you-well!
Oh, preachers fold your Bibles, Fare-you-well, Fare-you-well!
Prayer-makers pray no more, Fare-you-well, Fare-you-well!
For de last soul's converted, Fare-you-well, Fare-you-well!
In addition to the " Sper'chels " proper, which were sung sitting down, there were the . " Running Sper'chels " or " Shout Songs" which were accompanied by all kinds of fantastic motions. Something of the primitive African dance is suggested by these " Shout Songs." They were only sung under stress of the greatest religious excitement and served as aids to the mourners who had not yet " got through." The " mourners " of these songs were not mourners in the general acceptation of the word, but were those who occupied the " mourners' bench " in the gospel meetings. Both words and music of these negro hymns are poetic, quaint, and plaintive and are often full of dramatic power, with marked contrasts of fear and bliss.
While religious emotions called into being the larger part of the songs, there are others which picture conditions in slave life. There were those sung at dusk when returning from work, and these plaintive songs show the dark side of slavery. There are again others which show the brighter side, when dancing was allowed in the evening, and unrestrained laughter resounded around the cabin fire, An interesting song of descriptive character is " Noble Skewball," which tells of a famous horse-race. This song more nearly approaches the epic character than does any other of the negro's efforts.
The love-songs of the negro with few exceptions, are trifling and perhaps frivolous. The negro sang not of the grande passion, his peculiar environment precluding even a thought of it. Yet in the following song there is a note of deep emotion and genuine feeling :
Poor Rosy, poor gal! Poor Rosy, poor gal!
Rosy break my poor heart! Heav'n shall-a-be my home.
One should read between the lines, perhaps, in order to realize the fate of " Poor Rosy " as bewailed by a lover, helpless to avert an impending catastrophe. A writer states : " There is a depth of history and meaning to the song," while an old negress avers that " it cannot be sung without a full heart and a troubled spirit."
Work on the plantations was often done to the accompaniment of songs whose rhythmic swing acted as an incentive to steadier and better labor ; especially was this true with the mowers at harvest. Charles Peabody tells of a leader in a band of slaves who was besought by his companions not to sing a certain song because it made them work too hard. Again, on the boats plying between the West Indies and Baltimore and the southern ports, which were manned by the blacks, song was used for the same purpose. Later, on the southern river-boats the same method was utilized. These boat songs usually were constructed of a single line followed by an unmeaning chorus, the solo being sung by one of the leaders, and the rhythmical refrain repeated over and over by the workers.
During the war period negroes assisted in the construction of fortifications and earthworks. These bodies of laborers invariably kept pick and shovel going to the rhythmic, protracted chanting of words, original in thought and construction, and which were fashioned by one of their number who was looked upon as a leader. These songs be-came known generally throughout the South as " Railroad Songs," from the fact that tracks often were laid to the same long-drawn-out melody, and because the railroad itself made a profound impression upon the negro. They are of interest in the consideration of negro melodies since they were the last spontaneous outburst of the negro amid a rapidly changing environment.
The railroad idea was also utilized by the negro in his religious songs. He likened the Christian to a traveler on a train; the Lord was the conductor and the servants of the church were the brakemen. Stops were made at the gospel stations either to take up waiting converts or to replenish the engine with the water of life. This figure was carried out to its full extent and shows the tendency of the negro to fantastic imagery. Many of the " Railroad Songs " originated in the vigils of those who " sat up " with the dead, singing meanwhile to comfort the afflicted and mourning family. Such songs were sung in a low, monotonous croon and are irregular in everything except rhythm.
In Louisiana the music of the negro took on a special color owing to the influence of his Creole masters. This is noticeable not only in the French patois of his songs but in the character of the music of both his songs and his dances. The majority of songs were almost invariably accompanied by dancing, the singer being chosen not only for the quality of his voice but for his skill in improvisation, his words taking suggestion from the grace or pose of some danseuse or being in praise, of some plantation hero. The dancers themselves did not sing, the musical accompaniment consisting of singing and rude instrumental efforts furnished by the onlookers. Such combination songs and dances were termed counjaille, name and dance being of African origin.
A distinctive feature of the early song of the Creole negro is its story of animal life. Many of these songs, which are of considerable length and invariably accompanied with a particular dance, refer to the elephant, the lion and the tiger. One of the most amusing tells of the entrance of a frog into a hornet's nest and of the unhappy results of his visit. Such a dancing song was designated a ronde. There is also found among these African Creole songs a few that are distinctively historical, and which seem to have been spontaneous effusions connected with some important episode relating to the community. Events such as the invasion of Louisiana by the British in 1814 and the capture and occupation of New Orleans by Commodore Farragut and General Butler in 1862 were chronicled in these songs.
The love songs of the negro of Louisiana, of which "Layotte " is a good example, are more distinctive than are those of the negro in general. Louis Moreau Gottschalk, a Creole of French and English parentage, born in New Orleans in 1829, and who won fame for himself as a pianist and composer, made use of " Layotte " and other Creole negro melodies in his piano pieces. His first important composition " Bananier," is founded on the melody " En Avant Grenadier." It was Gottschalk who first made known to the world at large the peculiar charm of the Creole airs. One may judge of the interest attracted by both the music and its transcriber from an article appearing some sixty years ago in La France Musicale, relative to the appearance of Gottschalk in the Paris salons. A part of the article reads :
" Who does not know the ` Bamboula' ? Who is there who has not read the description of that picturesque, exciting dance, which gives expression to the feelings of the negroes? joyful or sad, plaintive, amorous, jealous, forsaken, solitary, fatigued, ennuied, or the heart filled with grief, the negro forgets all in dancing the ` Bamboula.' Look down there at those two black tinted women with short petticoats, their necks and ears ornamented with coral, le regard brulant, dancing under the banana tree; the whole of their bodies in the movement; further on are groups who excite and stimulate them to every excess of fancy; two negroes roll their active fingers over a noisy tambourine, accompanying it with a languishing chant, lively or impassioned, according to the pose of the dancers. Little negroes, like those on the canvas of Decamps, are jumping around the fiddlers; it is full of folly and delusion. The ` Bamboula' is at its height. This attractive dance has frequently furnished a theme for instrumental compositions which, however, have not obtained all the success that we expected from them. The Creole airs transported into our salons lose their character, at once wild, languishing, indescribable, and bear no resemblance to any other European music; some have thought that it was sufficient to have the chant written down, and to reproduce them with variations in order to obtain new effects. Not so ; the effects have failed. One must have lived under the burning sky from whence the Creole draws his melodies ; one must be impregnated with those eccentric chants, which are little dramas in action; in one word, one must: be, Creole, as composer and executant, in order to feel and make others understand the whole originality of the ` Bamboula.' "
The 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.
Though 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.
Among the composers who have used negro themes as material in composition Antonin Dvorák 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.
At the close of the Civil War there were more than four million freed slaves reaching out for the promise of better conditions. An active, energetic endeavor was made therefore, toward the founding of schools for the negro, and from one of these institutions there developed a project which became of unique interest in the history of music in America. In 1865 measures were taken to found a university in the South for the benefit of the freed slaves, and against many discouraging odds, Fisk University was established at Nashville, Tennessee, in 1866.
Recalling the negro's innate love for song, the trustees resolved to make music a special feature of the instruction in the University. They therefore engaged George L. White, to give instruction in singing. His work with the pupils was productive of good results, for in the spring of 1867 he had them give a concert, and the following year they presented a program which included the cantata " Esther."
Mr. White now took part of his choir class to Memphis and again to Chattanooga, meeting in both cities with considerable success. About this time the National Teachers' Association of the United States held its annual convention at Nashville, and arrangements were made for the Fisk choir to sing at the opening exercises. This proved, in spite of prejudice on the part of certain people, to be so popular a feature that a demand was made on the singers for their services in every session until the close of the convention. It now was suggested that this choir might be made a means to an end and earn with its singing the funds needed to further the work of the University. With this object in view Mr. White started out with his choir of thirteen members, on Oct. 6, 1871.
The director had much to discourage him, but faith in the project lent courage to both singers and leader, and the first three months' work brought a considerable sum of money into the University treasury. An invitation to take part in the World's Peace Jubilee in Boston gave renewed encouragement. It was not altogether smooth sailing for the Fisk singers in Boston, however, for in the first concert there was abroad a spirit of antagonism which at one moment went beyond the bounds of civility and decorum. But the patient singers evinced neither disturbance nor resentment, and perhaps this forbearance on their part swung the balance of public opinion decidedly in their favor.
The supreme test came, however, when the singers were to take part in one of the Jubilee concerts. The " Battle Hymn of the Republic" was to be sung to the air of "John Brown," by some colored singers of Boston. Unfortunately, the key was pitched too high, and the first lines were voiced under obvious difficulties. The Fisk singers, owing to the good training they had received, found no difficulty with the high notes on which the others had failed, and when were reached the words " He hath sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat," their cue for falling in, they took up the song as if swept by a wave of inspiration. At the chorus " Glory, glory, Hallelujah," the audience of twenty thousand people arose en masse, the women waving their handkerchiefs and the men throwing their hats high in the air, cheering and shouting " The Jubilees ! The Jubilees forever!" And P. S. Gilmore, the originator and director of the Jubilee Concerts, motioned down to the dusky singers below, and massing them upon his own platform, from this position had them finish the remaining verses of the Battle Hymn of the Republic."
The fame of the "Jubilee Singers " — for henceforth this was to be the designation of these vocalists from the South — having gone abroad, London expressed a desire to hear them. They therefore crossed the ocean, and with their simple and pathetic music won their way into the hearts of the British public. England, Scotland and Ireland received them graciously and bestowed upon them encouraging appreciation, for, from Queen Victoria to the humblest subject within her realm, the " peculiar minor " cadence in the simple song of an exiled people touched the heart as no other primitive music had done. A second tour was made later and concerts were given in Holland, Switzerland and Germany as well as in Great Britain.
Those who did not understand the language were moved to tears by the charm of the music. The older countries of Europe were quick to recognize the fact that in these negro songs America had a folk-music peculiarly and entirely its own — music which had sprung into being under specific historical conditions and for two centuries had mellowed on the borders of civilization and culture and yet had no part in it. Strange enough too, a few English musicians as well as those from other European countries began to think that the negro had plagiarized the church music of the whites, so they set themselves the task of research into the old hymnology in order to prove that the " Slave Songs " were not as original as had been claimed. Their labors were of course in vain, for they found that such was not the case. On the contrary, England later borrowed one of her most popular Sunday School hymns from African music, the simple little melody to " There is a happy land, far, far away," belonging to the primitive music of the negro.
In Holland, there being no halls of suitable dimensions to accommodate the people desirous of hearing this unique band of singers, the Cathedrals were opened for concert purposes, and at The Hague the singers were received by the Queen and the nobility. After a sojourn of some two months in Holland, the Jubilee Singers passed on to Germany, where in Berlin, after being received by the Emperor, the Domkirche, in which the Imperial family worships, was placed at the disposal of the visitors for their concerts.
One of the most critical journals of the time, the Berliner Musik-Zeitung, in a lengthy article considered the program in detail and then summed up with the following : " What wealth of shading ! What accuracy of declamation! Every musician felt that the performances of these singers are the result of high artistic talent, finely trained taste, and extraordinary diligence. Such a pianissimo, such a crescendo, such a decrescendo as those at the close of ` Steal Away ' might raise envy in the soul of any choir-master!" The critique closes with : " Thus the balance turns decidedly in favor of the Jubilee Singers and we confess ourselves their debtors. Not only have we had a rare musical treat but our musical ideas have also received enlargement and we feel that something may be learned of these negro singers, if only we consent to break through the fetters of custom and of long usage."
Franz Abt, the composer and conductor, received the singers most cordially, bestowing upon them many attentions and in Brunswick placing at their disposal the hall in which he gave his own choral concerts. " We could not take even our German peasantry," he remarked, "and reach in generations of culture such results in art, conduct and character as appear in these freed slaves."
The career of the Jubilee Singers in unique in the music annals of the world. That these uncultured singers could bring all Europe to their feet by the inherent beauty of their song and by their charactertistic rendition of the same, demands for the negro a distinct place in the musical world. Funds to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars were earned by this band of singers and applied for the educational uplift of the race. It is a message of song that finds no parallel.
The negro has exerted an influence in the history of music in America not only by means of his own song but indirectly through the efforts of the negro minstrel, whose inspirations were derived from negro sources. Nationalities have each in turn had their minstrels, all closely allied by ties of resemblance in style and manner of performance; but America has had its own individual type. Unlike that of other nations, it made a specialty of framing the "mind to mirth and merriment " and developing among the people the desire for a humorous entertainment, simple and clean of character. This peculiar style of entertainment naturally called for music of a distinct type, and as a result of this demand there evolved a class of melodies which, together with the negro melodies themselves, eventually will be looked upon as our folk-song.
It is not a difficult matter to find the cause for the long continued popularity of negro minstrelsy, for it gave to the public an entertainment which was new and original and which at the same time made its appeal from many sides. In himself the negro was an interesting character, and when travestied, with all his peculiarities exaggerated, he became even more so It was the droll humor of the southern darkey that first was fastened on as a feature suitable for stage presentation. The ludicrous side of the negro character, which showed itself in the performing of his songs by accompanying them with facial grimaces and contortions. made its appeal as did also the pathetic side which drew involuntary tears.
In all the efforts of the negro minstrel, it was song which served as the vehicle of expression, and the secret of his long continued success lay in the inherent appeal made by such songs. It was the song rather than the singer which first drew out and held the attention of the public. In addition to these songs the negro minstrel had a manner of performing instrumental music that was peculiarly his own. Trick music it might be termed., for the banjo and fiddle were played in all sorts of positions, under the leg, behind the back, and over the head. The fiddle was made to imitate almost all the sounds of nature, and even the tin whistle served to produce strange and peculiar imitations and inventions. And from such materials, with the song and dance, the ring of the tambourine and the clack of the bones — all given with the performers in black-face make-up — was the minstrel show fashioned.
There are many claimants to the origin of American minstrelsy, but it generally is conceded that W. D. Rice (born in New York in 1808, died in 1860) was really the father of this form of entertainment, if not its veritable originator. Certain it is that Rice afterward became associated with the dandy darkey of the stage and that he had many followers, all more or less ingenious in their methods of presentation of this most exaggerated and grotesquely made-up character.
Rice's first negro impersonation was patterned after a song, with its accompanying dance, which he had heard sung by a negro in a stable in Cincinnati; but it was in Pittsburg in 1830 that the song first was given from the stage. While playing in the latter city, Rice induced a negro porter named Cuff to accompany him to the theatre and to loan him the clothes he was then wearing. When the time came therefore for Rice's specialty, he made his appearance arrayed in Cuff's garments, with face made up with burnt cork and with a black wig of matted moss on his head. Then followed the song which he had heard in Cincinnati :
O, Jim Crow's come to town, as you all must know,
An' he wheel' about, he turn about, he do jis so,
An' ebery time he wheel about, he jump Jim Crow.
Suiting the actions to the words, Mr. Rice emphasized his song by the movements of his body. He was greeted by tremendous applause, and when he proceeded to improvise, incorporating into the verses familiar local incidents, the house became uproarious.
Cuff, in the meantime, had received a call for his services, and after repeated though unsuccessful efforts to attract the actor's attention, he rushed on the stage regard-less of appearances and demanded his clothes. The audience thought at first that his entrance and excited talk were a legitimate part of the show, but when it came to a realization of the true state of affairs the effect may be imagined. Thus the germ of the art of burnt cork minstrelsy was born, an art which afterward became a feature in the evolution of America's popular music.
" Jim Crow in his grotesque make-up became a feature of the regular performances at the Fifth Street Theatre, and at the season's close, quarters known for a long time as " Beal's," were secured for entertainments exclusively Ethiopian in character. Song after song was added until there existed a good repertory from which to select an evening's entertainment. For two years Rice confined his Ethiopian specialties to Pittsburg, but afterward he went to Philadelphia, Boston and New York, and ultimately crossed to England. He opened at the Surrey Theatre, London, and after a prolonged engagement in the British metropolis made a tour of the other large cities of Great Britain, being most favorably received everywhere, and in the four years of his tour making a fortune. Rice died in 1860 after having given to the stage the first and best type of negro minstrelsy.
It is interesting to note that many actors who later became famous, in their early careers appeared first as negro minstrels, among the number being Forrest, Booth and Joe Jefferson. Forrest's appearance in such roles really antedates that of " Jim Crow " Rice by seven years, but as he did not long continue to play negro parts his influence was not felt in the development of negro minstrelsy. Jefferson made his stage debut in 1833, when only four years of age, being carried in a bag on the shoulders of W. D. Rice and turned out of it with the introduction :
Ladies and gentlemen,
I'd have you to know
I's got a little darkey here
To jump Jim Crow.
Other names connected with early American minstrelsy might be given more than passing mention. For three years Ralph Keeler was one of the most popular of the black-face brotherhood and made a tremendous hit with his negro impersonations. George Washington Dixon, who made his debut in 1830, accompanying his singing with a banjo, was one of the pioneers of this art. His " Zip Coon " was the original of what later were designated " Coon songs." Charles White and Daniel Emmett were general favorites in their day, Emmett being better known as the composer of the popular songs " Old Dan Tucker," " Early in the Morning " and " Dixie." There were many others who played their part well in the earlier as well as in the declining period of this phase of entertainment and whose names will always be associated with America's particular form of minstrelsy, that of the blackened face.
The name of Christy was for some years synonymous with negro minstrel specialties. Edwin P. Christy was the founder of the famous troupe which was organized in 1842, and its performances were given with uninterrupted regularity in New York for eight years. Under the management of E. P. Christy, George Harrington, his nephew (better known to the world as George W. Christy), made his debut at Buffalo, N. Y., and was really for some years the star of the troupe, being, it is said, the original " Lucy Long,"
E. P. Christy had two sons, R. Byron and William A., who were also members of what was known as the " Christy's Minstrels." This troupe went to England and occupied St. James' Hall, London, night after night for many years, becoming one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the British metropolis.
To Christy is due the credit for so arranging the performance as to have it comprise the whole evening's entertainment rather than being an accessory to other features. The minstrel performance, under his management, was divided into three divisions, namely " first part," " olio," and " afterpiece."
In the "first part " the performers were seen seated in a single row, the number varying from four to twenty, the " Interlocutor " in the center, with " Bones " and " Tambo," the boneplayers and tambourine performers, respectively, as end men. The second part, " olio," was a variety entertainment made up of banjo-playing, clog-dancing and other specialties. It in no way partook of the representative features of plantation life as in the performances of the earlier Ethiopian minstrels, and the third part or " afterpiece " very rarely touched upon anything in connection with negro life. These innovations, in spite of the clever rendition of individual parts, were the beginning of the end of American minstrelsy. Edwin P. Christy and William A. Christy died in 1862; E. Byron Christy in 1866, and George W. Christy in 1868.
Many songs, mere echoes of the Southland, were given in these performances, and from the fervor with which they were received both in America and in England and their influence upon the people, they must, perforce, be classed with the popular music. The sentimental strain in these songs or ballads made its quick appeal to the heart. Thackeray, who had witnessed one of the performances, writes in one of his " Roundabout " sketches : " I heard a humorous balladist not long since, a minstrel with wool on his head, and an ultra-Ethiopian complexion, who performed a negro ballad that I confess moistened these spectacles in a most unexpected manner. I have gazed at thousands of tragedy queens dying on the stage and expiring in appropriate blank verse, and I never wanted to wipe them. They have looked up, be it said, at many scores of clergymen without being dimmed, and behold ! a vagabond with a corked face and a banjo sings a little song, strikes a wild note which sets the heart thrilling with happy pity."
Among many minstrel organizations contemporary with the Christies were Buckley's " New Orleans Serenaders." which was organized in 1843, White's " Serenaders," Bryant's Minstrels, Wood's Minstrels, and Sharpley's Minstrels. Kelly and Leon introduced "Africanized opéra bouffe " to New York in 1867. At a somewhat later period came Cotton and Reed, Haverley, Thatcher, Pelham, Primrose and West, Billy Van, Dockstader and others. Haverley's " Mastodon Minstrels " first appeared before the public about the year 1882.
In the earlier minstrel shows and indeed for many years following, the stage negro was patterned after the plantation " darkey," but in the organizations of a later date he assumed a distinct character of his own. The Haverley troupe was among the first to make a lavish display. They created somewhat of a sensation at the time, both in America and in England, by the dazzling stage spectacle they presented. From this time on there was little in the minstrel show to suggest the plantation " nigger " other than the ultra-blackened faces. The "darkey " song became the " coon " song and assumed a new and different character. There was very little suggestion left of the music of the negro himself on which the early minstrel songs were founded.
It is impossible to class the coon songs of the last twenty years apart from popular music in general, for they have been given to the public much more frequently without the accompaniment of the burnt cork make-up than with it. From the time the negro minstrel ceased to travesty the real article the minstrel show has steadily dropped in public favor until at the present time there are but few troupes in existence. Lew Dockstader still holds the board, but his only by ceaseless endeavor. The black-face comedian seems doomed to extinction, but he will leave behind him the characteristic type of popular music developed through his efforts. He served his purpose, and the legacy he left behind him in the " darkey " and " coon " songs has done much in adding variety to the literature of popular music.
America owes much to the negro in the creation and development of its popular music, for a large part of such music is due either directly or indirectly to negro sources. He gave to us, first of all, of his own peculiarly characteristic melodies which, as time goes on, are tending more and more to form the foundation of our folk-song literature. Had it not been for the negro there would never have come into existence the early minstrel songs which were patterned after those of the negro himself. From the demand of the minstrels for songs of a suitable style there developed the ever popular compositions of Stephen C. Foster and others of like character.
At a later date there have followed the multitudinous " coon songs " as the natural outcome of the " darkey songs," and in all of them, both in words and music, may be traced the influence of the negro. The words are still in the quasi-negro dialect, and the music abounds in the peculiar syncopations found in the true negro melodies. From all of these facts the conclusion that the negro has played a most pronounced part in the development of our popular music is naturally and easily reached. There is no doubt that America has proved to be the gainer musically from the unconscious influence of the unfortunate people first: brought to the country as slaves.
