I disagree. I think their interpretation lacks some cultural authenticity, but that the material itself is very old and springs from the traditional body of material.

Otherwise we would not find so many of the items they are doing listed in the books of older material.

One reason I am posting their material is because their styling at least fits the pattern of songleading that IS authentic, in terms of repetitions of refrains to get the piece rolling and other phrasing efforts... also because they show how spirituals can be relevant today, as a living form. But the biggest reason is that there is a "Copyleft" program in France that allows us to post these copyright-free, and then bring in other copyrighted material as part of our discussion. Starting these discussions with the copyrighted versions shown in the print collections would, IMO, be problematic.

This is not to say that the arrangements for choral performance are as "authentic" or "pure" as the earlier-collected bare meoldies and dialect lyrics they are based upon-- just that they are connected. We can start from either end of that flow and still arrive at an appreciation of the complexity and beauty of the form and the specific examples of it.

I just appreciate that so many of them appear in the Park recodings at their site-- to hear them actually sung as my first encounter, instead of just dots on a page, is a wonderful thing for me as a singer.

BTW, I am planning on inviting them to come discuss with us, so let's play nice, too! *G* There are LOTS of people in non-English-speaking countries interested in spirituals-- and they have much to share with us.

~S~