Go Down Moses

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the song. For the book by William Faulkner, see Go Down, Moses.

"Go Down, Moses"
Songbook page of "Go Down, Moses", 1873
Music by	Traditional
Language	English
Form	Negro spiritual
Original artist	Fisk Jubilee Singers (Earliest attested)

"Go Down Moses" is an American Negro spiritual. It describes events in the Old Testament of the Bible, specifically Exodus 5:1: "And the Lord spoke unto Moses, go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, thus saith the Lord , Let my people go, that they may serve me", in which God commands Moses to demand the release of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. The opening verse as published by the Jubilee Singers in 1872:

When Israel was in Egypt's land: Let my people go,

Oppress'd so hard they could not stand, Let my People go.

Go down, Moses,

Way down in Egypt land,

Tell ole Pharoh,

Let my people go.

1 "Oh! Let My People Go"
2 Incidentals
3 References
4 Bibliography
5 External links

[edit] "Oh! Let My People Go"

"Oh! Let My People Go" (The Song of the Contrabands)
Cover of sheet music, 1862
Music by	Traditional
Published	1862
Language	English
Form	Negro spiritual
Original artist	Contrabands

Although usually thought of as a spiritual, the earliest recorded use of the song was as a rallying anthem for the Contrabands at Fort Monroe sometime before July of 1862. Early authorities presumed it was composed by them.^[1] Sheet music was soon after published, titled "Oh! Let My People Go: The Song of the Contrabands" and arranged by Horace Waters. L.C. Lockwood, chaplain of the Contrabands, stated in the sheet music the song was from Virginia, dating from about 1853.^[2] The opening verse, as recorded by the Lockwood, is:

The Lord, by Moses, to Pharoah said: Oh! let my people go.

If not, I'll smite your first-born dead—Oh! let my people go.

Oh! go down, Moses,

Away down to Egypt's land,

And tell King Pharoah

To let my people go.

[edit] Incidentals

The song was made famous by Paul Robeson whose voice, deep and resonant as it was, was said by some to have attained the status of the voice of God. It is also one of the spirituals used in the oratorio A Child of Our Time by the English composer Michael Tippett. The song was also sung during an episode of the American sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and featured in a climactic scene in the Preston Sturges film Sullivan's Travels. The song also appear on the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off, sung by the character Cameron with some changes on its lyrics.

William Faulkner titled his novel Go Down, Moses after the song.

On February 7, 1958, the song was recorded in New York, NY, and sung by Louis Armstrong with Sy Oliver's Orchestra.

A Hebrew translation of the song is a common element in the Passover seder in Israel.

[edit] References

^ The Continental Monthly, Vol II, pp. 114-113, "We are indebted to Clark's School-Visitor for the following song of the Contrabands, which originated among the latter, and was first sung by them in the hearing of white people at Fortress Monroe, where it was noted down by their chaplain, Rev. L.C. Lockwood."
^ Lockwood, "Oh! Let My People Go", p. 5: "This Song has been sung for about nine years by the Slaves of Virginia."

[edit] Bibliography

The Continental Monthly. Vol. II (July-December, 1862). New York.
Lockwood, L.C. "Oh! Let My People Go: The Song of the Contrabands". New York: Horace Waters (1862).