Musical Theater

Musical Theater

The very first musical production in the United States was the show Flora which was preformed in Charleston, South Caroline on February 8, 1735. It was a ballad opera which had originated in England. Ballad operas remained to most popular type of stage production for a few decades until the United States was introduced to the burlesque. At that time a burlesque production was a parody of famous plays, performers, or dancers. They did this through dialogue, song, pantomime, and dance. Hamlet was one of the first burlesques in 1828. John Poole starred in this production of Hamlet. Burlesques were also for the most part foreign importations; and so were the extravaganzas and spectacles that crowded the New York stage just before and immediately after the Civil War. The accent on female pulchritude, usually in flimsy attire, was such an important element in later American musical productions. This importance dates from one of these foreign importations: Ixion, in 1869, in which Lydia Thompson and her English blondes shocked New York by having girls appear in skin-colored tights. The Black Crook was the very first American produced and written musical and when it premiered in New York City on September 12, 1866, it was an instant hit and was considered to be the most successful theatrical production to be put on in the United States at the time. The Black Crook introduced some of the ritual subsequently identifying American musical comedy: chorus girls, ornate production numbers, elaborate costuming, songs provocative with sexual innuendos, large dance numbers and so forth.

"American Musical Theatre: An Introduction." TheatreHistory.com. Web. 23 Feb. 2010. .

America the Beautiful

"America the Beautiful" is an American patriotic song.The lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and the music composed by church organist and choirmaster, Samuel A. Ward. Bates originally wrote the words as a poem, Pikes Peak, first published in the July 4th edition of the church periodical The Congregationalist in 1895. The poem was titled America for publication. Ward had originally written the music, Materna, for the 1600s hymn “O Mother dear, Jerusalem” in 1882. Ward's music combined with the Bates poem was first published in 1910 and titled America the Beautiful. The song is one of the most beloved and popular of the many American patriotic songs. From time to time it has been proposed as a replacement for The Star- Spangled Banner as the National Anthem. These are the lyrics:

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!
O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
O beautiful for halcyon skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!
O beautiful for pilgrims feet,
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!
O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice,
for man's avail
Men lavished precious life!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!
O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!

"America the Beautiful -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 12 Feb. 2010. .

Gospel Music

Gospel Music

Gospel Music is believed to have originated from African American slaves. It was a way of expressing faith and praises through joyful music so very much distinctive of them. Gospel songs contain many different themes that arouse many different emotions in all its listeners. The songs also have very strong passion that was powered by the slaves willful creation of their own worship hymns in spite of their hardships. The “white gospel” was the white man’s version of the gospel; it was also known as the southern gospel. This form of song was believed to have originated in the late 1800s from white evangelical Americans, yet the style of the song came from the hymn. Usually southern gospel music does not include instruments at all or sparingly, but not always. The contemporary Christian music was derived from southern gospel music. Bluegrass gospels are a subgenre of the southern gospel as well. These bluegrass gospels grew popular because of its secular artists, including Elvis Presley and other evangelists including Billy Graham and Jimmy Swaggart. But history has it that southern gospel music has been developed from the Holiness churches that arose in the first decade of the 20th century throughout the south. This phenomenon created new kind of music for this new forms of worship—in addition to those traditional hymns that were created in the 18th and 19th century. Southern gospel music is called such so as to distinguish it from black gospel. Mostly, southern gospel and its roots are attributed to the published works and “normal schools” of Aldine S. Kieffer as well as Ephraim Ruebush. And like black gospel, southern gospel also has numerous notable artists and performers.

"Southern Gospel Music." EzineArticles Submission - Submit Your Best Quality Original Articles For Massive Exposure, Ezine Publishers Get 25 Free Article Reprints. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. .

Slave Music

Slaves: Music

African Americans used to meet on a regular basis and sang many songs together. They did this with out any hymnbooks and these songs were for the most part made up on the spot. They referred to these song as “spirituals”. These Christian songs usually were about what the Bible says and how to live with the spirit of God. One song called “Dark Days of Bondage” is about the faith the slaves had that God would not leave them alone during their horrible life. Another type of common slave song is called the “quiet” song. It can be sung by one or multiple people and they were used for expressing the singers personal feelings and to cheer on one another. The meaning of both spirituals and quiet songs were often covert. That being said only Christian slaves understood them. They usually reflected the singer’s relationship with God. “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” are spirituals about the Underground Railroad. “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” refers directly to one station called the Ripley Station which was open to fugitive slaves. This song was a call and response chant. The Lyrics to “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” are the following:

SWING LOW SWEET CHARIOT

Lead: Swing low, sweet chariot
Chorus: Coming for to carry me home
Lead: Swing low, sweet chariot
Chorus: Coming for to carry me home
Lead: If you get there before I do
Chorus: Coming for to carry me home
Lead: Tell all my friends, I’m coming too
Chorus: Coming for to carry me home

Song Official Site of Negro Spirituals, antique Gospel Music. Web. 05 Feb. 2010. .