Lift Every Voice and Sing - The Negro National Anthem

African American History & Heritage Site AfroAmericanHeritage.com	*Support this Site AND Save Money!* (learn more) Please bookmark these links; I receive a commission when you shop Amazon.com New & Used Books, Videos, Magazines, Music and more AllPosters.com Thousands of related art posters and images Internet Audio Resources: Legally download music, games and more. Get 25 FREE downloads at eMusic Sheet Music Plus Over 350,000 sheet music titles, songbooks, scores and more Audible.com: Download two audiobooks for FREE
It's AMERICAN History & Heritage!	Main Menu
Copyright 2002 Gerri Gribi \|\|\| Email \|\|\| Updated 1/20/08 Please acknowledge AfroAmericanHeritage.com School Library Journal's Site of the Week Recommended by NEA Today Kathy Schrock's "SOS Web Site of the Week" Johnson Subvention Award, Society for American Music	Home Music \|\|\| Books \|\|\| Educational Video \|\|\| TV on DVD \|\|\| Composers \|\|\| Women \|\|\| Speakers and Performers \|\|\| Higher Education \|\|\| "Lift Every Voice"\|\|\| Magazines & Journals \|\|\| Travel *Teacher Toolkit Grades K-12* Contents \|\|\| Reference Online \|\|\| Reference Offline \|\|\| FAQ \|\|\| Professional Development \|\|\| Elementary \|\|\| History \|\|\| Language Arts \|\|\| Music \|\|\| Math & Science \|\|\| Visual Arts \|\|\| Museums & Historic Sites \|\|\| Link Policy \|\|\| About the Author Art & Posters /// 2008 Calendars

Paying the Rent!
These ads are served by Google. I don't control the content. If you find any objectionable, please use the Ads by Google link.

Lift Every Voice and Sing: The Negro National Anthem

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" (1900) was written by James Weldon Johnson for a presentation in celebration of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln. The music was composed by his brother and songwriting partner, J. Rosamond Johnson. The song was originally performed in Jacksonville, Florida, by children. The popular title for this work is THE NEGRO NATIONAL ANTHEM.

Text by James Weldon Johnson (1871 - 1938) Bio online
Music by John Rosamond Johnson (1873 - 1954) Bio online
Lyrics Online at The Academy of American Poets

Download it FREE right now!

Download music LEGALLY using a free trial available through my web site. Rhaposdy offers 50 vocal and instrumental versions, Napster has 48, and eMusic has 23. See Internet Audio Resources for more information about this special offer.

Sheet Music available from SheetMusicPlus.com

Lift Every Voice And Sing Arranged by Allen Pote. For Choir. (2-part). Print Music Single (SAB Divisi). Published by Hope Publishing Company. (AG7297) You can listen to a sample online, too.

Lift Every Voice and Sing SATB By Johnson; Lloyd A. Larson. For SATB Choir. Sheet Music. Published by Shawnee Press.

Found in these Hymnals:

Songs of Zion. Edited by Verolga Nix and Jefferson Cleveland. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1981. Order at Amazon.com

African American Heritage Hymnal. .Carpenter, Delores & Nolen E. Williams Jr. Editors. Chicago, IL: GIA Publications, 2001. Read more or order the Assembly Edition at Amazon.com For Accompaniment Edition, Donor book plates, etc contact GIA Publications.

CDs

There's one for every taste! (Don't ask which is my favorite...I love them all.)

For a piano instrumental version (in a key you can easily sing with, and which probably sounds very much as the song would have been played back in 1900) try Euphonic Sounds, nineteen rag-time performances by Reginald R. Robinson, Chicago: Delmark, 1998. Available at Amazon.com or Download this album or individual songs free at Rhaposdy, Napster or eMusic!
Congratulations to Reginald R. Robinson on being awarded a 2004 MacArthur 'Genius' Grant!

For a choral version, I recommend Lift Every Voice and Sing by Various Artists, Liquid 8 2003. Available at Amazon.com

If your tastes are for classical music, I highly recommend William Grant Still's orchestral setting for baritone solo found on Works by William Grant Still, performed by Videmus, New World Records 1990. Available at Amazon.com

Linda Tillery's arrangement on Say Yo' Business (Linda Tillery & the Cultural Heritage Choir) has a driving drum beat, a wonderful blend of traditional and contemporary sounds. You can listen to a sample and order at Amazon.com or Download this album or individual songs free at Rhaposdy, Napster or eMusic!

If you love traditional quartet gospel singing, you can't beat the version recorded by The Southern Sons as reissued on 1940's Vocal Groups, Document Records 1996. (Plus, you'll get the complete recorded works of The Southern Sons and the first recorded works of Richmond's Harmonizing Four on one CD...such a deal!) The Zion Harmonizers also provide a great version on Best of New Orleans Gospel Vol. 2. or Download this album or individual songs free at Rhaposdy, Napster or eMusic!

The Boston Pops has has also recorded it on their CD, A Splash of Pops. Available at Amazon.com or Download this album or individual songs free at Rhaposdy, Napster or eMusic!

For a thrilling a capella version performed by Women of the Calabash with the Free Voices of Praise Choir, try The Kwanzaa Album. Available at Amazon.com or Download this album or individual songs free at Rhaposdy, Napster or eMusic!

Books

Lift Every Voice and Sing. Johnson, James Weldon, Illustrated by Elizabeth Catlett. New York: Walker, 1993. Available at Amazon.

A picture book with impressionistic interpretations of the lyrics in colored pencil, gouache, and watercolor.

Lift Every Voice and Sing : A Celebration of the Negro National Anthem : 100 Years, 100 Voices, edited by Julian Bond. New York: Random House, 2000.

History of the song, plus 100 commentaries by people of all races. Available at Amazon.

Read More at NPR "Present at the Creation"

The following ads are served by Google. I have no control over the content, so if you find any of these ads objectionable, please use the Ads by Google link. Thanks!

http://creativefolk.com/blackhistory/lift.html