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Black gospel music has roots in the Black oral tradition—the passing down of history via the spoken word rather than in writing. In colonial America, where enslaved Africans were prevented from being formally educated, oral and otherwise non-written communication became the method not only for cultural patrimony, but for virtually all ...
- Early 17th century, Southern United States
The precursor to black Gospel music is the African American spiritual, which had already been around for well over a century before Gospel music began its rise to popularity starting in the 1930s. Songs written by African American composers in the decades following emancipation that focused on biblical themes and often drew from spirituals were ...
Apr 21, 2024 · The tradition that came to be recognized as Black American gospel music emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries alongside ragtime, blues, and jazz. The progenitors of the tradition, however, lie in both Black and white musics of the 19th century, including, most notably, Black spirituals , songs of enslaved people, and white hymnody.
The origins of gospel music are during American slavery, when enslaved Africans were introduced to the Christian religion and converted in large numbers. Remnants of different African cultures were combined with Western Christianity, with one result being the emergence of the spiritual.
- Late 19th century, African Americans
Jun 28, 2022 · It was around the 1930s when gospel music first formed, but how did spiritual music transform from hymns to the contemporary music genre we know today? “American Black Journal” continues its “Black Church in Detroit” series with a look at the history of gospel music and its intersection with the blues.
Apr 9, 2024 · Gospel music, deeply intertwined with the church, evolved alongside the Great Migration. The 1920s and 1930s marked a pivotal era in gospel music, as the rhythms of the urban landscape merged with spiritual fervor. Chicago was a burgeoning metropolis and melting pot of cultures.
We’ll Understand It Better By and By: Pioneering African American Gospel Composers. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992. Carnegie Hall's history of African American Music. Learn more about how traditional gospel music evolved from the 1930s to 1960s.
