High School

Describe the origin of the Spiritual Conferences.

Provide an example from the conference on Cordiality.

Answer :

Final answer:

The Spiritual Conferences dealt with spiritual life and church matters. An example from the conference on Cordiality involves the adaptation of spirituals into concert format which has both popularized the genre and raised questions about the preservation of cultural authenticity.

Explanation:

The origin of the Spiritual Conferences is rooted in the historical context of religious and social gatherings where critical issues about the spiritual life and church administration were discussed. An example drawn from the discussion on Cordiality could reflect the meticulous adaptation of spirituals into the concert format, often used to domesticate the original music for a broader audience.

This adaptation, while making the spirituals more accessible to white audiences and removing some of their essential features, raised questions about authenticity and the preservation of African American traditions.

The concert spiritual, such as those performed by choirs like the Howard University Choir, showcases a transformation where spirituals are often sung with crisp precision and coordinated by a conductor, much like European classical choral music. This evolution of spirituals into a concert form has crossed racial and national lines and is a topic of interest in the study of musicology and history.