Spirituals and the Birth of a Black Entertainment Industry

Spirituals performed by jubilee troupes became a sensation in post-Civil War America. First brought to the stage by choral ensembles like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, spirituals anchored a wide range of late nineteenth-century entertainments, including minstrelsy, variety, and plays by both black and w...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Graham, Sandra Jean
Format eBook
LanguageEnglish
Published Champaign University of Illinois Press 2018
Edition1
SeriesMusic in American Life
Subjects
19th century
African Americans
Gospel
History
History and criticism
Jubilee Singers
Minstrel shows
MUSIC
Religion
Religious
Sociology
Spirituals (Songs)
United States
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Summary:Spirituals performed by jubilee troupes became a sensation in post-Civil War America. First brought to the stage by choral ensembles like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, spirituals anchored a wide range of late nineteenth-century entertainments, including minstrelsy, variety, and plays by both black and white companies. In the first book-length treatment of postbellum spirituals in theatrical entertainments, Sandra Jean Graham mines a trove of resources to chart the spiritual's journey from the private lives of slaves to the concert stage. Graham navigates the conflicting agendas of those who, in adapting spirituals for their own ends, sold conceptions of racial identity to their patrons. In so doing they lay the foundation for a black entertainment industry whose artistic, financial, and cultural practices extended into the twentieth century. A companion website contains jubilee troupe personnel, recordings, and profiles of 85 jubilee groups. Please go to: http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/graham/spirituals/
ISBN:9780252041631
0252041631
0252050304
9780252050305
9780252083273
025208327X