Download or read book Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negroes (Classic Reprint) written by Howard W. Odum and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2018-01-29 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negroes The religious songs of the negro have commonly been accepted as characteristic music of the race. The name spirituals' given them long years ago is still current, while these songs, composed by the negroes, and passing from generation to generation with numerous modifications, retain many of their former characteristics. In former days the spirituals were judged to be the most beautiful produc tion of the race and the truest representation of the negro 's real self. Some of these songs have been published, and for a time their emo tional beauty and simplicity of expression won for the negro a definite place in the hearts of those who had not hitherto known him. He was often judged by these songs alone, reported only imperfectly and superficially, and forthwith came many expressions of delight and en thusiasm for the future possibilities of the negro. These expressions indicate not only the power of the singing of negro spirituals upon those who heard them, but also many of the characteristics of the old and present-day spirituals. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.