20th-Century Black Art Music and the Great Migration

D'Juan Moreland

The Spark

African Americans faced numerous challenges at the beginning of the 20th century, especially those living in the South. Racial violence and discrimination terrorized the Black population there, where racial riots and mass lynchings of Black Americans were common. To understand why the South was dangerous for Black Americans, it is important to look at the South's history. Slavery was abolished formally via the ratification of the 13th Amendment in 1865, soon after the conclusion of the Civil War (National Archives 2021). The federal government then intervened in the southern states and enacted policies to ensure the rights of the newly freed Black population. This period of time (1866-1877), known as the Reconstruction era, saw economic and political growth in Black populations in the South. The ratification of the 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all Black Americans while the 15th Amendment gave all men suffrage regardless of race. Local laws and protections that outlawed racial discrimination in different sectors of society were also passed. In southern states, Black Americans gained legal protections and participated in government for the first time. This stoked fear and rage in the southern white populations who were forced to concede some economic and political power to Black Americans. Reconstruction ended in 1877 and southern governments were left to their own devices without federal intervention. Consequently, the Black population of the South faced increased unemployment, discrimination, and racial violence (Foner 2022). A mix of these factors created one of the largest human migration events in history, known as the Great Migration, in which Black Americans left the South and flooded northern industrial cities (Britannica 2023). Although much discussion of the Great Migration references the political and economic effects of this mass migration, little is discussed of the cultural, and specifically musical, effects of this movement. Directly following this mass exodus, innovations in Black American culture occurred, most strikingly in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1910s/1920s and the adjacent “Chicago Renaissance” in the 1920s/1930s (Hine 2012). The cultural impacts, especially in music, of these two movements cannot be understated. Thus, this post will shine a light on how the Great Migration impacted Black culture, in particular Black art music in the industrial centers of Chicago and New York. The movement of Black Americans to these cities during the early 20th century spurred musical innovations such as the introduction of African American styles into classical music and the creation of modern gospel music.

A Tale of Two Cities

Before delving into specific musical innovations, it is important that we understand the broader cultural impact of the Harlem and Chicago Renaissances. When Black Americans left the South for northern cities, they settled in specific areas. In New York, a major area where Black people settled was Harlem, and in Chicago, it was the South Side. The influx of people in these areas created a melting pot of different ideas that spurred innovations in literature, art, music, and other cultural exports. Contributions to Black art by Southern-raised artists like the poet Langston Hughes and filmmaker Zora Neal Hurston, both based in Harlem, display how the Black experience was characterized through art. Similarly in Chicago, figures like the poet Gwendolyn Brooks and artist Charles White infused their own creations with Black culture (Lopez 2018). The mixing of Black culture in white-dominated mediums, like poetry and visual arts, innovated them and provided a new air of legitimacy for Black people in these spaces. Contrastingly, musical figures like Louis Armstrong, a migrant from New Orleans to Harlem, carved out new lanes in music by “revolutionizing” Jazz music. He is even credited with being one of the “founding fathers of Jazz Music” (Russian 2021).

The dichotomy of infusing traditionally white musical genres, like symphonies, with Black styles versus creating a new genre altogether is exemplified in two musical pioneers during this time: William Grant Still from Harlem and Thomas A. Dorsey from Chicago.

Harlem and the “Dean”

William Grant Still was a prolific Black American composer whose innovative music contributed greatly to the legitimacy of Black American music styles in concert music. Regarded as the “dean of Afro-American composers,” his works were an important contributor to the cultural output of the Harlem Renaissance (Murchison 1994). Like most figures of the Harlem Renaissance, Still came from a Southern background, being born in Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas (Quin 2010). After serving in World War I, Still moved to Harlem and was a participant in the musical scene there, ranging from writing jazz to concert music (Murchison 1994). Desiring to make a distinct musical identity of his own, he wanted to merge popular Black music styles in a symphonic form. This culminated in the creation of Still’s “Afro-American Symphony,” which premiered in 1931 (Murchison 1994 and Oja 1992).

Left: William Grant Still, the "Dean of Afro-American Composers"

The Afro-American Symphony

The Afro-American Symphony was Still’s first symphonic work, and drew heavily on blues harmony and Black American musical styles like jazz and spirituals. It aimed to highlight the beauty of Black music while also putting it in the traditionally European genre of the symphony (Oja 1992). The sections of the piece contain blues forms, spiritual styles, and modality, which may indicate a rejection of traditional norms associated with the symphony (Murchison). The use of these styles makes the piece sound unique and undoubtedly Black.

The symphonic medium in which these styles were used is arguably just as important as the inclusion of Black musical styles. The Afro-American Symphony represents one of the first times that Black musical styles were introduced into this concert setting by a Black composer. Further, the creation of the symphony caused the work to break into the “high art” music scene in New York, allowing it to reach a wider audience. Although the piece drew on ideas that were well-known and practiced in Harlem, many of the concerts were held downtown in more established concert venues, so Still would have commuted from Harlem to downtown for his work. I think this accurately displays the balance that Still was going for in this work: creating a unique and authentic display of Black American music while crafting it in a way that was “legitimate” for a composer with a Western musical education. This allowed the piece to become very successful and a testament to how the music, and the overall cultural, scene in Harlem gained legitimacy in concert music. I also believe that the piece being a symphonic work creates more interest as it combines the dynamic qualities of symphonies with some of the emotional yet static qualities of Black musical styles. Overall, the medium of this piece led to success and a faithful adoption of Black music in concert music.

The Impact of the Afro-American Symphony

The success of this work allowed for Black styles to be more accepted in the concert music scene, thus setting the stage for the inclusion of jazz and blues harmony to cross over into concert music. Further, Still being Black American served as an example for young Black composers like myself. Although the Harlem Renaissance was establishing a cultural identity for Black Americans during this time, concert music was still lacking an American identity (Ross 2013, 100). Although Still was not the most well-known of 20th-century American concert music composers, the Afro-American Symphony allowed him to contribute greatly to the identity of American art music. Currently, his impact is becoming more recognized with current trends toward racial and ethnic equity in concert music. Through Still’s contribution, the identity of American concert music includes Black Americans in its history. More broadly, we can view Still as representing an essential aspect of American history that other American composers contributed to as well. Composers like George Gershwin and Aaron Copland, being the sons of immigrants, represent America’s immigrant roots and the country’s melting pot of identities. Therefore, the “Dean of Afro-American Composers” represents the rich history of Black Americans in the United States, their Southern roots, and their cultural significance.

The Black Chicago Rennaisance

New York was not the only city where a cultural explosion occurred following migration from the South. Waves of migrants entered Chicago throughout the 1910s and up through the civil rights movement (Britannica 2023). Starting in the 1930s, the less well-known “Chicago Black Renaissance” began, which saw major cultural outputs in the form of literature, art, and music. Musically, Chicago is an important city. Both Jazz and Blues were brought to Chicago from the South and innovated heavily. Chicago served as a hub for these music genres with figures like Louis Armstrong and Blues legend Koko Taylor residing in the city for some time (WTTW Chicago 2018). As the Chicago Black Renaissance lasted up to the 1950s, Chicago’s musical innovations arguably led to the widespread popularity of Blues and Jazz during the 20th century.

The "Father" on the South Side

The Windy City’s musical history during its Renaissance did not end with Jazz and Blues; a new genre was birthed during this time: Gospel. Gospel music is the combination of the secular musical styles of Jazz and Blues with the hymns and spirituals popular to most Black American Christians as a holdover from slavery (WTTW Chicago 2018). Although many people think that this genre was created gradually over time, the history of Gospel music has a definite beginning in the 1930s with Thomas A. Dorsey (WTTW Chicago 2018).

Left: Thomas A. Dorsey, the "Father of Gospel Music"

Songs of Hope

Dorsey, known as the “Father of Gospel Music,” was a talented blues and jazz pianist who worked alongside other great blues artists like Ma Rainey (WTTW Chicago 2018). Dorsey’s musical background was based in the Southern Baptist church, as he was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of a preacher and a church organist. Dorsey, like many others, later moved from Atlanta to Chicago to pursue a music career as a pianist (Britannica 2023). Still in Chicago during the 1930s, Dorsey began experimenting musically by combining his sacred background with the secular music styles he played for work. After the passing of his son in 1931, he created his most well-known song “Precious Lord” (1931), which combines religious lyrics of hope with a secular blues-style accompaniment, jazz rhythm section, and choir (WTTW Chicago 2018). The mixture of sacred and secular styles by Thomas A. Dorsey constitutes the birth of Gospel music. By fusing elements from popular genres with spirituals and worship texts, Dorsey could appeal to a wider audience. Further, this accessible music allowed people to connect with spirituality through music they are more familiar with. Initially, the mixing of secular elements was seen as taboo and discouraged among many churches (Boyer 1979). This type of pushback is still common, and there is always concern when a new secular style is adopted by gospel musicians, like funk with the Clark Sisters and Hip-Hop with Kirk Franklin. However, this synthesis of a new sacred genre of music exemplifies how Dorsey’s Southern roots influenced his music during the 1930s.

Gospel Music and Media

Gospel music spread widely, finding mainstream success and even engraining itself in other artistic forms of American media. Gospel music in the 1930s gained widespread popularity in Black churches and was sung by everyone in the congregation (Boyer 1979). In the 1950s, professional groups rose to prominence and lead to more mainstream success, as we see even in modern groups like the Clark Sisters and Mary Mary (Boyer 1979). Gospel’s rise was also seen in other forms of media. Writer Langston Hughes, a Harlem Renaissance figure, notes that in his musicals in the 1950s and '60s he used gospel-styled improvisational singing (Hayes 2007). Indeed, gospel-inspired vocal improvisation gained legitimacy in musical theater and was adopted heavily (Hayes 2007). Even modern movies use elements of gospel music such as the film Hidden Figures, which is about three Black scientists during the 1960s. Composers Pharrell Williams, Hans Zimmer, and Benjamin Wallfisch created a score notable for featuring vocal improvisation by the gospel artist Kimberly Burrell (Burlingame 2017). Improvisation of a vocal soloist, specifically a female voice, is a major feature of gospel music. Thus, finding the improvisation element of gospel music in musical theater and film highlights the fame gospel music has achieved. Further, it displays how Thomas A. Dorsey's pioneering of sacred music during the Black Chicago Renaissance had wide-reaching impacts on different forms of American media.

Migration and Culture

The Great Migration of the early 20th century, although occurring for political, economic, and social reasons, spurred some of the greatest cultural innovations in Black art. During this time new music was pioneered while Black art music became legitimate within mainstream American culture. The comparison of William Grant Still's work in Harlem and Thomas A. Dorsey's work in Chicago showcases how the composers' Black identities influenced their music greatly. Although Still innovated existing genres while Dorsey cultivated a new one, their shared roots in the South display the musical legacy and impact of the Great Migration.

Works Cited

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Burlingame, Jon. “Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Benjamin Wallfisch Bring ‘Hidden Figures’ Into the Light.” Variety, January 5, 2017. https://variety.com/2017/film/spotlight/hans-zimmer-pharrell-williams-benjamin-wallfisch-hidden-figures-score- 1201952502/.

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Oja, Carol J. “‘New Music’ and the ‘New Negro’: The Background of William Grant Still’s ‘Afro-American Symphony.’” Black Music Research Journal 12, no. 2 (1992): 145–69. https://doi.org/10.2307/779440.

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D'Juan A. Moreland majored in Music Composition and Biology at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. His passion for equity in all forms of higher education drives his efforts to promote knowledge of Black American contributions to American society.

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