USA, 1867–1930
Spirituals & Gospel
From Slave Songs of the United States, the Fisk and Hampton collections and Sankey.
This room is being written.
Its tunes are being read from the original printed collections now, checked note by note against the scans. They will appear here as soon as each one is checked.
Why everything here is free to use
The rule
A piece is free here only when both are true:
- India: every author died before 1 January 1966.
- USA: it was first published in 1930 or earlier.
We read every melody from the original period printing, never from a modern reprint or arrangement. Melody and chords only. Words appear only when the words themselves pass the rule.
Sources
- Slave Songs of the United States (Allen, Ware and Garrison, New York, 1867). Free on both counts. Period scans: Smithsonian copy and University of Michigan copy. We do not use the 1995 Dover reprint, which has a new preface.
- Jubilee Songs (Fisk University, 1872), and Cabin and Plantation Songs (Hampton, 1874). Lead: we still need to find a period scan.
- Harry T. Burleigh's arrangements (Burleigh d. 1949). Free only for editions published in 1930 or earlier.
- Ira D. Sankey, Sacred Songs and Solos (Sankey d. 1908). Each tune is checked for its own composer's death date.
Not allowed
Gospel from the 1930s onward (Thomas A. Dorsey and later), modern hymnals and arrangements, and any recording.