Tribute to the African American Spiritual as a Truly American Musical Tradition

As Black History Month 2018 came to a conclusion, we were reminded of the contributions of the late Dr. Robert Pritchard, founder of the the Panamerican-Panafrican Association, Inc to the preservation of the Spiritual as a truly American musical art form. As the creator of the first Black History Month Observance in NYC in 1965, and as a pianist and composer who performed the Spiritual during his concert performances around the world with the Pritchard Concert Ensemble, we honor him by re-publishing this review of a tribute by the National Cathedral to Harry T Burleigh, one of the leading composer-arrangers of the Negro Spiritual in the early part of the 20th century. Burleigh is regarded as one of the first concert artist to bring Spirituals to the concert stage as art songs. This review by PaPa Directors, Henry Polgar and Lisa McFarren-Polgar, first  appeared in the online publication Festival DC.com

“Deep River”: Celebrating the “Art of the Spiritual” at National Cathedral