[+] Ryder, Georgia A. "Harlem Renaissance Ideals in the Music of Robert Nathaniel Dett." In Black Music in the Harlem Renaissance: A Collection of Essays, ed. Samuel A. Floyd, Jr., 55-70. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1990.
Although Dett never associated with the leaders of the Harlem Renaissance, he shared their belief that African-American folk music should be utilized in the development of classical compositions. Like some of the leaders of the Renaissance, Dett was ambivalent toward this folk music, particularly the spiritual, in its purer forms. Debate centered around the value of the pure folk idiom, and also around how it should be used in the development of high art. Dett's two extended choral compositions are based on spirituals. The Chariot Jubilee is based on Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, and The Ordering of Moses draws its subject, thematic material, and organizational devices from Go Down, Moses.
Index Classifications: 1900s
Contributed by: Reginald Sanders
