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Antiphonal Chant

Age/Grade Level or Audience

Elementary or middle school music classes; music societies.

Description

Acquaint participants with the African system of arranging songs into antiphonal chants.

Procedure

Hand out song sheets which depict the separation of lines into those sung by the cantor or leader and the reply of the assembly or chorus. For example:

Go Down Moses
cantor: When Israel was in Egypt's land, 
chorus: Let my people go.
cantor: Oppress'd so hard they could not stand,
chorus: Let my people go.
cantor: Go down, Moses,
	Way down in Egypt Ian'
	Tell ole Pharaoh,
chorus: Let my people go!

I Ain't Gwine Study War No More
cantor: Gwine to lay down my burden,
chorus: Down by the riverside,
	Down by the riverside,
	Down by the riverside.
cantor: Gwine to lay down my burden,
chorus: Down by the riverside.
	Ain't gonna study war no more.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
cantor: I looked over Jordan and what did I see,
chorus: Comin' fo' to carry me home.
cantor: A band of angels comin' after me,
chorus: Comin' fo' to carry me home.
cantor: If you get there before I do,
chorus: Comin' fo' to carry me home.
cantor: Tell all my friends I'm comin' too,
chorus: Comin' fo' to carry me home.

Brother Rabbit
cantor: Brother rabbit, brother rabbit your ears mighty long,
chorus: Yes, brother possum, I b'lieve they're put 
	on wrong, however,
unison: Ev'ry little soul must shine, shine,  
	Ev'ry little soul must shine,
	Rise and shine, rise and shine, rise and shine.

Wade in the Water
cantor: See that ban' all dress'd in white?    
chorus: It look lak the childr'n of the Israelite.
cantor: See that ban' all dress'd in red? 
chorus: It look lak the ban' that Moses led. 
unison: Wade in de water
	Wade in de water,
	Wade in de water.
	God's a-gonna trouble de water.

I'm Gonna Sing
cantor: Oh, I'm a-gonna sing, 
chorus: Gonna sing, gonna sing,
	Gonna sing all along the way.
cantor: One day you'll hear the trumpet sound 
chorus: Gonna sing all along the way. 
cantor: The trumpet sound the world around 
chorus: Gonna sing all along the way. 
cantor: Oh, Jordan's stream is wide and cold, 
chorus: Gonna sing all along the way. 
cantor: It chills the body but not the soul, 
chorus: Gonna sing all along the way.

Sources

Videos or audio cassettes of the films Glory (1990) and the nine-part PBS series, The Civil War (1990).
Heilbut, Anthony, Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times, Limelight Editions, 1997.
Merlis, Bob, and Davin Seay, Heart and Soul: A Celebration of Black Music: Style in America 1930-1975, Stewart, Tabooli and Chang, 1997.
Silverman, Jerry, Spirituals, Chelsea House, 1995.
Southern, Eileen, Music of Black America: A History, W. W. Norton & Co., 1997.
Spencer, Jon Michael, Protest and Praise: Sacred Music of Black Religion, Fortress Press, 1997.
Spirituals We Play and Sing, Bks. 1 and 2, Lillenas, 1993.

Alternative Applications

Lead a discussion of the interplay between a cantor or spokesperson and an assembly. Play a recording or videotape of these examples:

• Storytelling by Mary Carter Smith, Linda Goss, Rex Ellis, Gladys Coggswell, or Doug and Frankie Quimby
• Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream Speech"
• Speeches by Jesse Jackson and Barbara Jordan

Discuss how antiphony affects American assemblies where black people follow African patterns by replying to the cantor's statements.