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Negro spirituals,
the religious folk songs of black American slaves, were among
the first songs created in America by Americans. Having discovered
comfort and joy in the Christian religion of their masters,
the slaves created songs which drew contrasts between their
own hard life on earth and the happiness they hoped to find
later in heaven. While this music is often the first music associated
with black/negro singers, it is a purpose of The Durbeck Archive
to demonstrate the assimilation of America's variegated classical
vocal culture by all singers who can perform, in a sympathetic
manner, the music they choose to sing. The vocal examples chosen
to exhibit the vocal talents of these singers have been selected
to demonstrate the heterogeneity of each cultural origin.
In the 50 year development
of The Durbeck Archive, I have not been able to find many discographies
of black/negro classically trained singers, except for those
of a few individual singers e.g., Paul Robeson, which is extensive.
Perhaps I have just been looking in the wrong places. Any proffered
leads will be greatly appreciated. Below listed are those singers
by whom an entire, solo LP has been recorded or dedicated. These
LPs are an important part of The Durbeck Archive. (Reminder:
The Durbeck Archive is an LP-dedicated archive with no references
to CDs, 78s, 45s or tapes of any kind; therefore, all references
to recordings by the singers on this page are on LP.)
The images of these
single LP jackets are more for purposes of illustration than
to indicate "star status" in the history and development
of black singers in America and the world. When possible, and
appropriate, I have selected international pressings of LPs
to indicate the popular status of black singers throughout the
world and not just here in America.
The second grouping
of names are those black singers, also represented in The Durbeck
Archive, but have not recorded a complete LP devoted to their
singing. Their contributions to this black singers' recorded
legacy are in roles on complete opera recordings, opera excerpts
recordings, and in collections and anthologies. That they have
not recorded solo LPs is no less a contribution of their significant
and professional stature and role in the development
and promulgation of black singers onto the opera and
concert stages of America and the world. Those black
singers who have achieved "stellar status" have not
done so without the millions of "high," "middle"
and "low" C's of their black antecedents and the continuing
artistic sustenance of their singing contemporaries. To fully
appreciate the development and advancement of the black/negro
classically trained singers, one should look less at the individual
"stars," and more at the "galaxy" of which
they are but a single entity.
All of these factors
considered, The Durbeck Archive is an immense resource as a
discography (on LP only) of the recorded history of the black/negro
classically trained singer.
PS. There is an interesting
discussion about the "black" sound in Chapter 11,
of the book, AND SO I SING (Rosalyn M. Story; Warner Books,
1990).
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