The history of the development of Negro Spirituals Songs goes back to Slavery. Slaves would be allowed to attend Christian services, after these services slaves would stay afterwards in “praise houses” for singing and dances, to meet with each other and share their feelings and hopes( which slave holders did not allow so they had to meet in secret) In mainly rural areas spirituals were sung.
The lyrics of negro spirituals were tightly linked with the lives of their authors, slaves. While work songs only dealt with their daily life, spirituals were inspired by the message of Jesus Christ and his Good News. They are different from hymns and psalms because they were a way of sharing the hard condition of being a slave.
During slavery in the USA, there was a systematic effort to de-Africanise the captive Black workforce. Because they were unable to express themselves freely in ways that were spiritually meaningful to them, enslaved Africans often held secret religious services. Here worshippers were free to engage in African religious spirituals and crafted the impromptu musical expression of field songs into the so called line-singing and intricate, multi-part harmonies of struggle and overcoming, faith, forbearance and hope that have come to be known as Negro Spirituals. Songs such as The Gospel Train, Wade in the Water and Swing Low Sweet Chariot. Through this project we will enable individuals and communities to learn and take part in workshops, performances and exhibitions. This project has four phase.
