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Afro American Folksongs: A Study in Racial and National Music
The work in hand is an annotated, alphabetical list of about 2,000 clergymen of colonial New England. The annotations furnish such useful genealogical information as place and date of birth and death, names of parents, college of matriculation, date of ordination, religious denomination, names of parishes, with dates in which livings were held, and a variety of similar matter. Also included is a complete list of colonial New England churches.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Henry Edward Krehbiel
156 books3 followersHenry Edward Krehbiel was an American music critic and musicologist.
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January 27, 2015
This book is good for two things:
1. The transcriptions may provide some insight. Always remember that by Krehbiel's own admission these were collected, written down and analyzed by people who thought the songs and the people they came from were "weird" "brutish" "savage". Krehbiel even admits that he doesn't think all the transcriptions are right and he doesn't think their system of transcription can capture the music correctly. Sometimes they show some respect for the beautiful music they have heard, but it's always couched in language that highlights it's otherness from themselves. The racism practically comes off the page to shake your hand!
2. To remind white people that they have been participating in a system that marginalizes the voices and bodies of people of color (especially women) who are already dealing with the great marginalization that was SLAVERY. In one section Krehbiel talks of his great wish to go capture songs from Africa as Rooselvelt captured the pelt of a great beast. It is sickening. All of the people of color mentioned (except one) were not named at all but the songs were attributed to the white person who "captured" it.
Krehbiel makes the case that African American folk songs should be considered American if only for the purpose of "civilizing" their "brutish" music into something more palatable for the white man. But I think the validity of someone else doesn't depend on your ability to understand them. If you need to read this book for research purposes, bring your waders and a mask because the bigotry is a mess to get through.
1. The transcriptions may provide some insight. Always remember that by Krehbiel's own admission these were collected, written down and analyzed by people who thought the songs and the people they came from were "weird" "brutish" "savage". Krehbiel even admits that he doesn't think all the transcriptions are right and he doesn't think their system of transcription can capture the music correctly. Sometimes they show some respect for the beautiful music they have heard, but it's always couched in language that highlights it's otherness from themselves. The racism practically comes off the page to shake your hand!
2. To remind white people that they have been participating in a system that marginalizes the voices and bodies of people of color (especially women) who are already dealing with the great marginalization that was SLAVERY. In one section Krehbiel talks of his great wish to go capture songs from Africa as Rooselvelt captured the pelt of a great beast. It is sickening. All of the people of color mentioned (except one) were not named at all but the songs were attributed to the white person who "captured" it.
Krehbiel makes the case that African American folk songs should be considered American if only for the purpose of "civilizing" their "brutish" music into something more palatable for the white man. But I think the validity of someone else doesn't depend on your ability to understand them. If you need to read this book for research purposes, bring your waders and a mask because the bigotry is a mess to get through.
Displaying 1 of 1 review