Although gospel music, by which we mean traditional church music, can be traced back over 2,000 years, the Afro-American inspired gospel music that we recognise today can find its roots in the 17^th century.

Origins of Gospel

Gospel music was originally founded to promote group participation during times of worship. As it involved oral interaction, it was seen as ideal for including everyone within a community when many people were illiterate, thus avoiding social exclusion and marginalisation of individuals.

On a more sinister level, gospel was also used as a means of conducting slavery indoctrinations; slaves could not read or write, and there was no desire or need among slave masters to teach them.

Gospel Song

It was not until the late 19^th century that gospel music started to stand out as its own genre, being used for performance and enjoyment rather than exclusively for religious and ‘business’ purposes. In 1874, the American composer Philip Bliss released Gospel Songs: A Choice Collection of Hymns and Tunes.

The songs written by bliss were notable for being easier to sing than traditional church hymns, while popular singers would be used to perform the songs and inspire people to explore this alternative to the choral church music they would have been used to singing themselves.

Because this gospel revival movement was so popular, and spread through communities as well as churches in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries, a number of publishing houses were quickly set up specifically to produce and spread gospel music.

Early 20^th Century Gospel

The popularisation of gospel music reached out to a new audience, particularly among those communities where church going was not seen as an essential and religion was not a major part of life. This was primarily led by church congregations beginning to bring their own instruments along to church to create a fuller music experience, where the gospel music would be sung against the backdrop of instrumental sound.

The invention and development of the wireless radio from 1919 onwards meant that gospel music was heard around the world. Recordings of gospel would start to become commercially successful, with groups like The Carter Family and The Fairfield Four enjoying fame and success. At the same time, the differences between black gospel and white gospel, and the conflict these differences often created, were never far from the surface.

Post War Gospel

It was not until the conclusion of the Second World War that live gospel performance would become popular worldwide. In 1959, the famous Madison Square Garden became the home for the Negro Gospel and Religious Music Festival.

Even today, black gospel and white gospel are considered two different genres, with separate audiences and artists. Despite this split, there are no racial motivations driving the continuation of the split today, although there are no signs of both genres coming together as one.

Image Author: Chris Larkee