The Spirituals Database offers searchable access to recorded track information for concert Negro Spiritual settings performed by solo Classical vocalists. This free online resource contains discographical and performance information about an international selection from more than a century of historic and contemporary concert spiritual recordings. These tracks are commercially produced on:

  • compact discs (CDs)
  • long-playing (33 1/3 rpm) albums
  • 78 rpm records
  • 45 rpm discs
  • audio cassettes
  • streamed audio files
  • demonstration recordings from musical score collections

Additionally, the site offers several historical and bibliographical resources related to this African American music style. Track information often provides links to vocalist and composer biographies from the Afrocentric Voices in “Classical” Music site, plus audio and/or video links to recordings on a variety of sites, such as the Internet Archive and YouTube. There are also images, videos, and artistic creations inspired by the Negro spiritual.

Begin searching The Spirituals Database from the simple keyword search box or the advanced search link below:

Advanced searching

Information about advanced search features is available on the How to Search page.

 

The Spirituals Database and Recorded Solo Concert Spirituals, 1916-2022

The Spirituals Database was launched in 2015 to share research on recordings of concert spirituals for solo vocalists. Even then, however, the eventual goal was to develop the results of that research into a printed resource. McFarland and Co. published the book, Recorded Solo Concert Spirituals, 1916-2022, in May 2023.

The Spirituals Database and Recorded Solo Concert Spirituals, 1916-2022 function independently. However, each resource supports the other, enhancing the level of available information when combined. To assist in coordinating the track entries in both resources, the entries in The Spirituals Database display an RSCS number that corresponds with the track number in Recorded Solo Concert Spirituals, 1916-2022.

The Spirituals Database has undergone numerous changes over the years. This includes the addition of uniform titles to make it easier to locate the variations in track titles, as well as more descriptive tags to make the search results even more complete. There have also been extensive changes to the look and functionality of the database overall.

Most recently, assessments of “composer not identified” entries and of dialect use for tracks newly added to The Spirituals Database are now accessible and searchable. These new track entries, over 700 made after the book was published, have an RSCS designation of NIB (not in book).

 

What Are Concert Spirituals?

Below is a documentary about concert spirituals categorized by song theme, from sorrow songs to songs of transcendence. A brief discussion of each category is followed by a recording:

  • “I Cannot Stay Here by Myself” (Hall Johnson, composer; A. Grace Lee Mims, soprano)
  • “Who’ll Be a Witness for My Lord” (John Rosamond Johnson, composer; Kenneth Spencer, baritone)
  • “Steal Away” (Harry T. Burleigh, composer; Martina Arroyo, soprano)
  • “Goin’ to Shout All over God’s Heaven” (Clarence Cameron White, composer; Jules Bledsoe, bass)
  • “Oh, Didn’t It Rain” (Ruby Elzy, soprano)
  • “Every Time I Feel de Spirit” (Lawrence Brown, composer; Evelyn Dove, soprano)
  • “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord” (Florence Price, composer; Marian Anderson, contralto)
  • “Let Us Break Bread Together on Our Knees” (Adele Addison, soprano; Fisk Jubilee Singers)

 

Unknown Composers Project

One of the all-too-frequently occurring problems of many recordings of concert spirituals is the absence of identification of the composer who created the settings of the spirituals recorded. Where possible, hundreds of tracks have been given composer designations through research of resources and/or listening to the recordings themselves. Still, there are nearly 1000 more missing this information.

The Unknown Composers Project is an effort to identify and credit composers of solo vocal concert spirituals on commercial recordings where the composer has not been designated. Contributors are invited to complete as much information as requested below to assist in accurately making these identifications. Scanned images of sources used are especially appreciated and may be sent to Randye Jones at ansdiscog@spirituals-database.com.

Those interested in participating in this project may either go to the https://spirituals-database.com/name-concert-spirituals-unknown-composer-project/ page or to the direct survey link at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KC9N9RR.

Verified submissions will become part of The Spirituals Database (www.spirituals-database.com). The contributor’s initials will be added to the entry (for example: Track Title [Composer’s Name–your initials].

 

SYWTSS Appendices

There are several appendices originally written for So You Want to Sing Spirituals that are specifically relevant to users of The Spirituals Database, especially:

 

Pinterest Page

There is a Pinterest page of album and label covers at https://www.pinterest.com/singin1/negro-spirituals-album-covers-labels/negro-spirituals/. It’s a bit out of date presently, but still of interest.