Music History of The United States To The Civil War - Popularization of Slave Music

Popularization of Slave Music

In the 1820s, genteel English-styled ballads were popular in urban areas. Many of the songwriters, however, were looking for something new, and were connected with the growing abolitionism movement, which sought to abolish slavery; these included most famously the Hutchinson Family Singers. The 1840s saw increased awareness of African American musical traditions, culminating in the publication of the first collection of African American songs, The Negro Singer's Own Book (1846). Some songwriters, including John Hill Hewitt and Stephen Foster, sought to incorporate what was then called Ethiopian music into their compositions. Songs with simple melodies and delicately incorporated ornamentations like suspensions and appoggiaturas were popular, including "Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" and "Oh My Darling Clementine". These songs, especially those by Foster, could be considered the beginning of American popular music. It has been called beginning of the "increasing influence of the Afro-American style of song and dance in American life" (Stearns and Stearns, Jazz Dance, quoted in Chase, 232).