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AGENCIES OF PRESERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT. 95 Dr. George A. Gates, on any occasion whatever, would call for ."Made My Vow to the Lord," and never failed to evince his pleasure as he listened to it. Dr. 0. W. Morrow always loves and calls his song, "In-a-my Heart." All these have shown a broad-minded interest in the folk music, each in a different and peculiar way, and have closely iden�tified themselves with it. Dr. Cravath toured Europe with the original company, Dr. Mer�rill toured America with the third company during the years 1899-1903, and Dr. Gates campaigned with the Fisk Male Quartette, 1909-1910. Dr. Morrow's connection has been mainly confined to Uni�versity life in its religious aspects. While he was pastor of the University Church he arranged an order of service with a jubilee song immediately following his sermon. This custom is still fol�lowed. One of these songs is always sung to clinch the thought of the sermon. At Hampton, the spirit and attitude are admirable. It is doubt�ful if at any place this music is more thoroughly appreciated. Through all these years since its founding, Hampton has steadily collected and published these songs in attractive form. Their edi�tions have been more thorough, more painstaking and more impor�tant than those of any other school. There has been, however, prac�tically no effort at development, until quite recently. The songs have been written and published in their original forms, just as they came from the people, and the harmonies have been written with no particular significance. In interpretation, Hampton has always done well. She has stood far forward. This may be due to the fact that Virginia has a most interesting and fine class of Negroes. They are full of folk lore, folk song, and folk spirit. It is fortunate for this institution that Major E. R. Moton stands as the chief exponent of this music. His spirit and understanding are commendable. Doubly fortunate is it that Hampton has secured the services of R. Nathaniel Dett for the head of her music department. His arrangement of the folk song, "Listen to the Lambs," is meritorious and marks the beginning of the period of development in Negro Folk Song in Hampton. It would not be surprising if under his leadership this institution would be the fore�most in both preservation and development. |
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