A 19th-century development in Protestant hymnody growing out of the evangelical
movement’s emphasis on emotion, conversion, and the believer’s personal relation to
Jesus. Gospel hymns usually exhibit a verse-chorus structure (eight measures to each), set
to two contrasting melodies. The lyrics, almost always written in the first person,
emphasize the loving relationship between the Christian and Jesus and dwell on the felt
joys of salvation. The first verse and chorus of “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” offers a
familiar example:
There are loved ones now in glory
Whose dear faces we often miss.
When you close your earthly story,
Will you join them in their bliss?
Chorus: Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by.
There’s a better home awaiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky.
Anglo American gospel hymnody includes a Midwestern and a Northern urban tradition
that drew on Victorian sentimental popular song and “correct” singing styles. Fanny
Crosby was the most prolific early composer in this tradition, which was popularized by
Ira Sankey and continued to be associated with the mass meetings and revivalism
practiced by such evangelists as Dwight L.Moody, Billy Sunday, and Billy Graham. In
the South, a regional tradition arose that drew on shape-note hymnody and on African
American camp-meeting songs. In the early 20th century, gospel publishing houses such
as James D.Vaughan and later Stamps-Baxter turned out hundreds of these songs
annually. Many became part of the hymnals used in evangelical Baptist and Pentecostal
denominations throughout the South, and the repertoire may still be heard there in
bluegrass as well as popular gospel groups.
African American composers began writing music for gospel songs around the turn of
the 20th century, and they have been sung by soloists, quartets and other small groups,
and massed choirs. Among the most important composers were Thomas A.Dorsey
(considered “The Father of Black Gospel Music”) and W.Herbert Brewster (the greatest
poet). Dorsey’s best-known song is “Precious Lord,” while Brewster’s most famous are
“Move up a Little Higher” and “Our God Is Able.” In the Black communities, gospel is
both a performing style and a repertoire of music. The style embodies ecstasy,
improvisation, repetition, elaboration, dress, gesture, posture, and other features
characteristic of African diaspora culture and music, and the same improvisatory scale
and mode used in spirituals, blues, and jazz. Black gospel music is sung in worship
services, at special gospel concerts, in religious pageants, and recently in the theater. It
has had considerable influence on secular Black genres such as blues, soul music, hard
bop, funk, and hip hop.
Jeff Todd Titon
References
Cusic, Don. 1990. The Sound of Light. Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University
Popular Press.
Reagon, Bernice Johnson. 1992. We’ll Understand It Better By and By: Pioneering African
American Gospel Composers. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.