Hall Johnson - He's Got Spirit!

Francis Hall Johnson was an American composer and arranger that wrote the African American spiritual and turned it into a prominent form of music. As Johnson began to embrace this genre of music in the 1920s, he not only increased its popularity, but his compositions were impressive enough to be compared to European music of the time. This legitimized his art form and would forever influence our perception of what the African American spiritual is today.
Spirituals were the songs of enslaved Africans in the early 1600s and would become especially prominent in American music and culture hundreds of years later. As slaves labored under white power they would sing these religious, emotional songs, creating their own unique music style with their unique rhythm and pitch-bending. White men would go on to mock black songs through vaudeville shows but by the twentieth century African American music was an integral part of American culture, and genres like the spiritual began to evolve and be taken seriously. Groups like the Fisk Jubilee Singers and the Hall Johnson Negro Choir became major hits on Broadway, radio, film, and would go on to influence the evolution of jazz.
Hall Johnson was a major composer of the spiritual and took the genre to unprecedented heights. Growing up he was influenced by much African American music. His father was minister and president of a prominent Methodist church and constantly exposed his son to the church choir, while his grandmother, a former slave, would sing the spirituals that had been orally passed down through generations of slavery. These impassioned Johnson at a young age, and as he continued his music education at Juilliard, rare for a black man of his day, he was able to further develop African American music, specifically the spiritual. He grew tired of hearing performances of black spirituals conveyed in essentially white barbershop harmonies, and he wanted to preserve and convey the true Negro spiritual as it had been performed during times of slavery. In describing the spiritual, John said, "Its source is that of all great art everywhere - the unquenchable, divinely human longing for a perfect realization of life. It traverses every shade of emotion without spilling over in any direction. Its most tragic utterances are without pessimism, and its lightest, brightest moments have nothing to do with frivolity. In its darkest expressions there is always a hope, and in its gayest measures a constant reminder. Born out of the heart-cries of a captive people who still did not forget how to laugh, this music convers an amazing rang of mood. Nevertheless, it is always serious music and should be performed seriously, in the spirit of its original conception." This shows the reverence and devotion Johnson had for his music genre.
Johnson's spirituals range from simple solos such as "My Good Lord Done Been Here," to call and response spirituals between choir and soloist like in "Fix Me, Jesus," to the complex layering of choir voices in "Elijah Rock." Johnson also alters the spiritual's usual I-IV-V chord progression by adding intricacies and new chords and notes such as the 7th, 9th, 11th, 13th, and dominant 7. In his a cappella choir works he uses the bass vocal line to root homophonic chords, yet gives each voice an individualized melody and sense of purpose that, when combined with the rest of the choir, becomes a creative, exciting vocal piece. The spiritual had been a seemingly simple genre, but with these advancements, Johnson took the genre to a new level.
Spiritual texts are usually based on the Christian faith combined with the struggles of slavery and oppression. They use African American dialect in covering topics such as Jesus, the Holy Spirit, freedom, prayer, avoidance of Satan, etc. Johnson's texts continue to build on these traditions, along with adding m more of the American folk hymn into his songs, certainly influenced by his upbringing in his father's church. His texts are usually strophic and alternate between verses and refrains, and often include call and response forms, like in "Cert'n'y Lord" as the soloists ask the choir if they're ready for Heaven, in which they enthusiastically reply "Cert'n'y Lord!" Johnson has also stacked different vocal lines that become percussive and impressive, like in "Elijah Rock."
Having been in choir for over ten years, I have come to love spirituals and can appreciate everything Johnson has done to aid the genre. And though Johnson may have been the impetus that led the spiritual to prominence and acclamation, I agree that he may be excluded from the canon. This is not to say he needn't be mentioned in music classes or when tracing the influence of African American composers on music in the early twentieth century! I just feel the spiritual as a genre is very unique and individualized, as it is isolated in its influence of music and its place in music history. The spiritual is a great form of song and extremely telling of the feelings of the cultural climate of its day; however, the piece, when performed for the public rather than in church, seem to be more about entertainment and style, rather than conveying the emotions and depth that canonic works usually possess. Also, though the quality of Johnson's works are high, the genre of spirituals are naturally simplistic in lyrics and texture, and most canonic works are more refined in nature. The genre of spirituals also lacks an international style and doesn't feel significant enough in the broad spectrum of world music. Johnson did amazing things for the spiritual and should be studied in American vocal music and jazz studies, though the genre itself is a niche in the Western canon.

Johnes, Randye, Afrocentric Voices, "Biographis: Hall Johnson"; available from http://www.afrovoices.com/hjohnson.html; Internet; accessed 23 Mar 2010.