80-406: " Strange Fruit " is a song written and composed by Abel Meeropol (under his pseudonym Lewis Allan) and recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. The lyrics were drawn from a poem by Meeropol published in 1937. The song protests the lynching of Black Americans with lyrics that compare the victims to the fruit of trees. Such lynchings had reached a peak in the Southern United States at the turn of
160-643: A 3-weekend a cappella festival held each February since 1975, where over a hundred collegiate groups have appeared, as well as International Quartet Champions The Boston Common and the contemporary commercial a cappella group Rockapella . Co-ed groups have produced many up-and-coming and major artists, including John Legend , an alumnus of the Counterparts at the University of Pennsylvania , Sara Bareilles , an alumna of Awaken A Cappella at University of California, Los Angeles , Mindy Kaling , an alumna of
240-513: A Song , writing that hers was "an account that may set a record for most misinformation per column inch". When challenged, Holiday—whose autobiography had been ghostwritten by William Dufty —claimed, "I ain't never read that book." Meeropol wrote numerous other poems and songs, including the Frank Sinatra and Josh White hit " The House I Live In ." He also wrote the libretto of Robert Kurka 's opera The Good Soldier Schweik , which
320-640: A cappella arrangements through the use of a subway beat boxer character. Beat boxer and actor Chesney Snow performed this role for the 2010 Primary Stages production. According to the show's website, it is scheduled to reopen for an open-ended commercial run in the Fall of 2011. In 2011, the production received four Lucille Lortel Award nominations including Outstanding Musical, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League nominations, as well as five Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical and won for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. In December 2016, In Transit became
400-520: A cappella choral development not only in Sweden but around the world, and finally there are a large number of very popular primary and secondary schools ('music schools') with high admission standards based on auditions that combine a rigid academic regimen with high level choral singing on every school day, a system that started with Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm in 1939 but has spread over
480-401: A cappella ensembles typically include one voice singing the lead melody, one singing a rhythmic bass line, and the remaining voices contributing chordal or polyphonic accompaniment. A cappella can also describe the isolated vocal track(s) from a multitrack recording that originally included instrumentation. These vocal tracks may be remixed or put onto vinyl records for DJs, or released to
560-502: A cappella groups can be found in high schools and colleges. There are amateur Barbershop Harmony Society and professional groups that sing a cappella exclusively. Although a cappella is technically defined as singing without instrumental accompaniment, some groups use their voices to emulate instruments; others are more traditional and focus on harmonizing. A cappella styles range from gospel music to contemporary to barbershop quartets and choruses. The Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA)
640-634: A cappella includes many vocal groups and bands who add vocal percussion or beatboxing to create a pop/rock/gospel sound, in some cases very similar to bands with instruments. Examples of such professional groups include Straight No Chaser , Pentatonix , The House Jacks , Rockapella , Mosaic , Home Free and M-pact . There also remains a strong a cappella presence within Christian music, as some denominations purposefully do not use instruments during worship. Examples of such groups are Take 6 , Glad and Acappella . Arrangements of popular music for small
720-550: A cappella music began to develop in Europe around the 9th century AD with the practice of organum , reaching its height between the 14th and 16th centuries with compositions by composers in the Franco-Flemish school (such as Guillaume Du Fay , Johannes Ockeghem , and Josquin des Prez ). The early a cappella polyphonies were sometimes doubled with other instruments, which were often wind or string instruments, or organs. By
800-512: A cappella musical to appear Off-Broadway, In Transit , premiered October 5, 2010, and was produced by Primary Stages with book, music, and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez, James-Allen Ford, Russ Kaplan, and Sara Wordsworth . Set primarily in the New York City subway system its score features an eclectic mix of musical genres (including jazz, hip hop, Latin, rock, and country). In Transit incorporates vocal beat boxing into its contemporary
880-452: A cappella tradition is especially strong in the countries around the Baltic and perhaps most so in Sweden as described by Richard Sparks in his doctoral thesis The Swedish Choral Miracle in 2000. Swedish a cappella choirs have over the last 25 years won around 25% of the annual prestigious European Grand Prix for Choral Singing (EGP) that despite its name is open to choirs from all over
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#1732772411267960-623: A cappella. In 1983, an a cappella group known as The Flying Pickets had a Christmas 'number one' in the UK with a cover of Yazoo 's (known in the US as Yaz ) " Only You ". A cappella music attained renewed prominence from the late 1980s onward, spurred by the success of Top 40 recordings by artists such as The Manhattan Transfer , Bobby McFerrin , Huey Lewis and the News , All-4-One , The Nylons , Backstreet Boys , Boyz II Men , and *NSYNC . Contemporary
1040-557: A certain success in and around New York. Meeropol, Shaffer, and the Black vocalist Laura Duncan performed it at Madison Square Garden . One version of events claims that Barney Josephson , the founder of Café Society in Greenwich Village , New York's first integrated nightclub, heard the song and introduced it to Billie Holiday . Other reports say that Robert Gordon, who was directing Holiday's show at Café Society, heard
1120-588: A copyright infringement lawsuit over Distel's plagiarism as Distel initially had claimed the song as his. After the case was settled, Meeropol started receiving the royalties. Meeropol published his work under the pseudonym of "Lewis Allan" in memory of the names of his two stillborn children. Meeropol was a member of the American Communist Party from 1932 to 1947. He was sympathetic to Julius and Ethel Rosenberg , who were convicted and executed for espionage. Later, he and his wife Anne adopted
1200-525: A large choral setting. Movements in modern a cappella over the past century include barbershop and doo wop . The Barbershop Harmony Society , Sweet Adelines International , and Harmony Inc. host educational events including Harmony University, Directors University, and the International Educational Symposium, and international contests and conventions, recognizing international champion choruses and quartets . Many
1280-849: A protest poem against lynchings . In the poem, Meeropol expressed his horror at lynchings of African Americans , inspired by Lawrence Beitler 's photograph of the 1930 lynching of Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in Marion, Indiana . Meeropol published the poem under the title "Bitter Fruit" in January 1937 in The New York Teacher , a union magazine of the New York teachers union. Though Meeropol had asked others (notably Earl Robinson ) to set his poems to music, he set "Strange Fruit" to music himself. First performed by Meeropol's wife and their friends in social contexts, his protest song gained
1360-710: A successful out-of-town run at the Stoneham Theatre, in Stoneham, Massachusetts. Perfect Harmony features the hit music of The Jackson 5 , Pat Benatar , Billy Idol , Marvin Gaye , Scandal , Tiffany , The Romantics , The Pretenders , The Temptations , The Contours , The Commodores , Tommy James & the Shondells and The Partridge Family , and has been compared to a cross between Altar Boyz and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee . The fourth
1440-639: A time) with instrumental accompaniment, it is not surprising that Protestant reformers who opposed the instruments (such as Calvin and Zwingli) also opposed the polyphony. While Zwingli was destroying organs in Switzerland ;– Luther called him a fanatic – the Church of England was burning books of polyphony. Some Holiness Churches such as the Free Methodist Church opposed the use of musical instruments in church worship until
1520-517: A type of folk music , is an a cappella style of religious singing with shape notes , usually sung at singing conventions. Opponents of musical instruments in the Christian worship believe that such opposition is supported by the Christian scriptures and Church history. The scriptures typically referenced are Matthew 26:30; Acts 16:25; Romans 15:9; 1 Corinthians 14:15; Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; Hebrews 2:12, 13:15 and James 5:13, which show examples and exhortations for Christians to sing. There
1600-474: Is a membership option for former students, whose funds support hosted competitions and events. A cappella music was popularized between the late 2000s and the early to mid-2010s with media hits such as the 2009–2014 TV show The Sing-Off and the musical comedy film series Pitch Perfect . In July 1943 , as a result of the American Federation of Musicians boycott of US recording studios,
1680-638: Is no reference to instrumental music in early church worship in the New Testament, or in the worship of churches for the first six centuries. Several reasons have been posited throughout church history for the absence of instrumental music in church worship. Christians who believe in a cappella music today believe that in the Israelite worship assembly during Temple worship only the Priests of Levi sang, played, and offered animal sacrifices, whereas in
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#17327724112671760-483: Is thought to have originated from times as early as 2000 BC, while the earliest that has survived in its entirety is from the first century AD: a piece from Greece called the Seikilos epitaph . A cappella music was originally used in religious music, especially church music as well as anasheed and zemirot . Gregorian chant is an example of a cappella singing, as is the majority of secular vocal music from
1840-598: The Barbershop Harmony Society (BHS). Today the BHS has about 22,000 members in approximately 800 chapters across the United States and Canada, and the barbershop style has spread around the world with organizations in many other countries. The Barbershop Harmony Society provides a highly organized competition structure for a cappella quartets and choruses singing in the barbershop style. In 1945,
1920-454: The Bronx , New York. He graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in 1921 (his classmate Countee Cullen graduated in 1922); he earned a B.A . from City College of New York and an M.A. from Harvard University . He taught English at DeWitt Clinton for 17 years. During his tenure as a high school teacher, Meeropol taught author and racial justice advocate James Baldwin . Meeropol wrote
2000-455: The Commodore label. Holiday sang "Strange Fruit" for him a cappella , and moved him to tears. Columbia gave Holiday a one-session release from her contract so she could record it; Frankie Newton 's eight-piece Café Society Band was used for the session in an arrangement by Newton. Because Gabler worried the song was too short, he asked pianist Sonny White to improvise an introduction. On
2080-694: The Coptic Orthodox Church ), many Anabaptist communities (including Old Order Anabaptist groups —such as the Amish , Old German Baptist Brethren , Old Order Mennonites , as well as Conservative Anabaptist groups—such as the Dunkard Brethren Church and Conservative Mennonites ), some Presbyterian churches devoted to the regulative principle of worship , Old Regular Baptists , Primitive Baptists , Plymouth Brethren , Churches of Christ , Church of God (Guthrie, Oklahoma),
2160-603: The Eastern Catholic Churches , the music performed in the liturgies is exclusively sung without instrumental accompaniment. Bishop Kallistos Ware says, "The service is sung, even though there may be no choir... In the Orthodox Church today, as in the early Church, singing is unaccompanied and instrumental music is not found." This a cappella behavior arises from strict interpretation of Psalm 150, which states, Let every thing that hath breath praise
2240-676: The Northwestern University School of Music , helped popularize a cappella music in the United States by founding the Northwestern A Cappella Choir in 1906. The A Cappella Choir was "the first permanent organization of its kind in America." An a cappella tradition was begun in 1911 by F. Melius Christiansen , a music faculty member at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota . The St. Olaf College Choir
2320-693: The Reformed Free Methodists , Doukhobors , and the Byzantine Rite of Eastern Christianity. Certain high church services and other musical events in liturgical churches (such as the Roman Catholic Mass and the Lutheran Divine Service ) may be a cappella, a practice remaining from apostolic times. Many Mennonites also conduct some or all of their services without instruments. Sacred Harp ,
2400-573: The Renaissance . The madrigal , up until its development in the early Baroque into an instrumentally accompanied form, is also usually in a cappella form. The Psalms note that some early songs were accompanied by string instruments, though Jewish and Early Christian music was largely a cappella; the use of instruments has subsequently increased within both of these religions as well as in Islam. The polyphony of Christian (predominantly Catholic)
2480-806: The University of Maine Maine Steiners (1958), the Columbia University Kingsmen (1949), the Jabberwocks of Brown University (1949), and the University of Rochester YellowJackets (1956). All-women a cappella groups followed shortly, frequently as a parody of the men's groups: the Smiffenpoofs of Smith College (1936), the Night Owls of Vassar College (1942), The Shwiffs of Connecticut College (The She-Whiffenpoofs, 1944), and The Chattertocks of Brown University (1951). A cappella groups exploded in popularity beginning in
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2560-529: The 16th century, a cappella polyphony had further developed, but gradually, the cantata began to take the place of a cappella forms. Sixteenth-century a cappella polyphony, nonetheless, continued to influence church composers throughout this period and to the present day. Recent evidence has shown that some of the early pieces by Palestrina, such as those written for the Sistine Chapel, were intended to be accompanied by an organ "doubling" some or all of
2640-497: The 18th century, and were opposed vigorously in worship by a number of Protestant Reformers , including Martin Luther (1483–1546), Ulrich Zwingli , John Calvin (1509–1564) and John Wesley (1703–1791). Alexander Campbell referred to the use of an instrument in worship as "a cow bell in a concert". In Sir Walter Scott 's The Heart of Midlothian , the heroine, Jeanie Deans , a Scottish Presbyterian, writes to her father about
2720-577: The 1930s several unsuccessful attempts were made in Congress to have lynching made a federal crime which were stymied by filibusters in the Senate by Southerners. In an attempt to achieve a two-thirds majority in the Senate that would break the filibusters by Southern senators, anti-racism activists were encouraged to mail copies of "Strange Fruit" to their senators. Cover versions of this song include Nina Simone , René Marie , Jeff Buckley , Siouxsie and
2800-631: The 1990s, fueled in part by a change in style popularized by the Tufts University Beelzebubs and the Boston University Dear Abbeys. The new style used voices to emulate modern rock instruments, including vocal percussion /" beatboxing ". Some larger universities now have multiple groups. Groups often join one another in on-campus concerts, such as the Georgetown Chimes' Cherry Tree Massacre,
2880-501: The 20th century and the great majority of victims were black. The song was described as "a declaration of war" and "the beginning of the civil rights movement " by Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun . Meeropol set his lyrics to music with his wife Anne Shaffer and the singer Laura Duncan and performed it as a protest song in New York City venues in the late 1930s, including Madison Square Garden . Holiday's version
2960-659: The Banshees , Dee Dee Bridgewater , Josh White , UB40 , Bettye LaVette and Edward W. Hardy . Simone recorded the song in 1965, a recording described by journalist David Margolick in The New York Times as featuring a "plain and unsentimental voice". René Marie's rendition was coupled with the Confederate anthem " Dixie ", making for an "uncomfortable juxtaposition". Journalist Lara Pellegrinelli wrote that Jeff Buckley while singing it "seems to meditate on
3040-560: The Blues , Holiday suggested that she, together with Meeropol, her accompanist Sonny White, and arranger Danny Mendelsohn, set the poem to music. The writers David Margolick and Hilton Als dismissed that claim in their work Strange Fruit: The Biography of a Song , writing that hers was "an account that may set a record for most misinformation per column inch". When challenged, Holiday—whose autobiography had been ghostwritten by William Dufty —claimed, "I ain't never read that book." Holiday
3120-408: The Christian scriptures never counter instrumental language with any negative judgment on instruments, opposition to instruments instead comes from an interpretation of history. There is no written opposition to musical instruments in any setting in the first century and a half of Christian churches (33–180 AD). The use of instruments for Christian worship during this period is also undocumented. Toward
3200-492: The Jewish chant may be found in the writings of the Jewish philosopher Philo , born 20 BC. Weaving together Jewish and Greek thought, Philo promoted praise without instruments, and taught that "silent singing" (without even vocal chords) was better still. This view parted with the Jewish scriptures, where Israel offered praise with instruments by God's own command The shofar is the only temple instrument still being used today in
3280-617: The Kinsey Sicks at New York's Studio 54 . That production received a nomination for a Lucille Lortel award as Best Musical and a Drama Desk nomination for Best Lyrics. It was directed by Glenn Casale with original music and lyrics by Ben Schatz. The a cappella musical Perfect Harmony , a comedy about two high school a cappella groups vying to win the national championship, made its Off Broadway debut at Theatre Row 's Acorn Theatre on 42nd Street in New York City in October 2010 after
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3360-750: The Lord. Praise ye the Lord. In keeping with this philosophy, early Russian musika which started appearing in the late 17th century, in what was known as khorovïye kontsertï (choral concertos) made a cappella adaptations of Venetian-styled pieces, such as the treatise, Grammatika musikiyskaya (1675), by Nikolai Diletsky . Divine Liturgies and Western Rite Masses composed by famous composers such as Peter Tchaikovsky , Sergei Rachmaninoff , Alexander Arkhangelsky , and Mykola Leontovych are fine examples of this. Present-day Christian religious bodies known for conducting their worship services without musical accompaniment include many Oriental Orthodox Churches (such as
3440-654: The RPI Glee Club), established in 1873 is perhaps the oldest known collegiate a cappella group. The longest continuously singing group is probably The Whiffenpoofs of Yale University , which was formed in 1909 and once included Cole Porter as a member. Collegiate a cappella groups grew throughout the 20th century. Some notable historical groups formed along the way include Colgate University 's The Colgate 13 (1942), Dartmouth College 's Aires (1946), Harvard University 's Krokodiloes (1946), Cornell University 's Cayuga's Waiters (1949) and The Hangovers (1968),
3520-672: The Rosenbergs' two sons, Michael and Robert , who were orphaned after their parents' executions. Both children took the surname "Meeropol." Meeropol died October 30, 1986, at the Jewish Nursing Home in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. A cappella Music performed a cappella ( / ˌ ɑː k ə ˈ p ɛ l ə / AH kə- PEL -ə , UK also / ˌ æ k ə ˈ p ɛ l ə / AK ə- PEL -ə , Italian: [a kkapˈpɛlla] ; lit. ' in
3600-493: The Sabbath out of concern that players would be tempted to repair (or tune) their instruments, which is forbidden on those days. (This prohibition has been relaxed in many Reform and some Conservative congregations.) Similarly, when Jewish families and larger groups sing traditional Sabbath songs known as zemirot outside the context of formal religious services, they usually do so a cappella, and Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations on
3680-496: The Sabbath sometimes feature entertainment by a cappella ensembles. During the Three Weeks musical instruments are prohibited. Many Jews consider a portion of the 49-day period of the counting of the omer between Passover and Shavuot to be a time of semi-mourning and instrumental music is not allowed during that time. This has led to a tradition of a cappella singing sometimes known as sefirah music. The popularization of
3760-582: The Taliban of music as un-Islamic. However, the de facto national anthem of Afghanistan is an a cappella nasheed , as musical instruments are virtually banned as corrupting and un-Islamic. The first a cappella group in Iran is the Damour Vocal Band , which was able to perform on national television despite a ban on women singing. The musical show Strepsils Stereo is credited for introducing
3840-649: The United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. Headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the organization encompasses more than 1,200 registered quartets and 600 choruses. In 1959, a second women's barbershop organization started as a break off from Sweet Adelines due to ideological differences. Based on democratic principles which continue to this day, Harmony, Inc. is smaller than its counterpart, but has an atmosphere of friendship and competition. With about 2,500 members in
3920-539: The United States and Canada, Harmony, Inc. uses the same rules in contest that the Barbershop Harmony Society uses. Harmony, Inc. is registered in Providence, Rhode Island. The popularity of a cappella among high schools and amateurs was revived by television shows and movies such as Glee and Pitch Perfect . High school groups may have conductors or student leaders who keep the tempo for
4000-584: The a cappella vocal group The Song Spinners had a best-seller with "Comin' In on a Wing and a Prayer". In the 1950s, several recording groups, notably The Hi-Los and the Four Freshmen , introduced complex jazz harmonies to a cappella performances. The King's Singers are credited with promoting interest in small-group a cappella performances in the 1960s. Frank Zappa loved doo wop and a cappella, so Zappa released The Persuasions ' first album from his label in 1970. Judy Collins recorded " Amazing Grace "
4080-457: The anti- lynching poem " Strange Fruit " (1937), first published as "Bitter Fruit" in a teacher union publication. He later set it to music. The song was recorded and performed by Billie Holiday and Nina Simone . Holiday notes in the book Lady Sings the Blues that she co-wrote the music to the song with Meeropol and Sonny White . The writers David Margolick and Hilton Als dismissed that claim in their work Strange Fruit: The Biography of
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#17327724112674160-600: The art of a cappella in Pakistan . Composer Dinesh Subasinghe became the first Sri Lankan to write a cappella pieces for SATB choirs. He wrote "The Princes of the Lost Tribe" and "Ancient Queen of Somawathee" for Menaka De Sahabandu and Bridget Helpe's choirs, respectively, based on historical incidents in ancient Sri Lanka. Voice Print is also a professional a cappella music group in Sri Lanka . The European
4240-457: The church era, all Christians are commanded to sing praises to God. They believe that if God wanted instrumental music in New Testament worship, He would have commanded not just singing, but singing and playing like he did in the Hebrew scriptures. Instruments have divided Christendom since their introduction into worship. They were considered a Roman Catholic innovation, not widely practiced until
4320-474: The church situation she has found in England (bold added): Those who do not adhere to the regulative principle of interpreting Christian scripture, believe that limiting praise to the unaccompanied chant of the early church is not commanded in scripture, and that churches in any age are free to offer their songs with or without musical instruments. Those who subscribe to this interpretation believe that since
4400-469: The compilation Music Is Love: 15 Tracks That Changed the World . Abel Meeropol Abel Meeropol (February 10, 1903 – October 29, 1986) was an American songwriter and poet whose works were published under his pseudonym Lewis Allan. He wrote the poem and musical setting of " Strange Fruit " (1937), which was recorded by Billie Holiday . Meeropol was born in 1903 to Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants in
4480-433: The country. A cappella has gained attention in the UK in recent years, with many groups forming at British universities by students seeking an alternative singing pursuit to traditional choral and chapel singing. This movement has been bolstered by organisations such as The Voice Festival UK . It is not clear exactly where collegiate a cappella began. The Rensselyrics of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (formerly known as
4560-415: The end of the 2nd century, Christians began condemning the instruments themselves. Those who oppose instruments today believe these Church Fathers had a better understanding of God's desire for the church, but there are significant differences between the teachings of these Church Fathers and Christian opposition to instruments today. Since "a cappella" singing brought a new polyphony (more than one note at
4640-404: The fact that vocal parts were often doubled by instrumentalists, led to the term coming to mean unaccompanied vocal music. The term is also used, rarely, as a synonym for alla breve . A cappella could be as old as humanity itself; research suggests that singing and vocables may have been what early humans used to communicate before the invention of language. The earliest piece of sheet music
4720-631: The first a cappella musical on Broadway. Barbershop music is one of several uniquely American art forms. The earliest reports of this style of a cappella music involved African Americans. The earliest documented quartets all began in barber shops. In 1938, the first formal men's barbershop organization was formed, known as the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America (S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A), and in 2004 rebranded itself and officially changed its public name to
4800-544: The first formal women's barbershop organization, Sweet Adelines, was formed. In 1953, Sweet Adelines became an international organization, although it did not change its name to Sweet Adelines International until 1991. The membership of nearly 25,000 women, all singing in English, includes choruses in most of the fifty United States as well as in Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden,
4880-623: The group, or beatboxers/vocal percussionists. Since 2013, summer training programs have appeared, such as A Cappella Academy in Los Angeles, California (founded by Ben Bram, Rob Dietz, and Avi Kaplan ) and Camp A Cappella in Dayton, Ohio (founded by Deke Sharon and Brody McDonald). These programs teach about different aspects of a cappella music, including vocal performance, arranging, and beatboxing/vocal percussion. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has no official anthem because of views by
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#17327724112674960-418: The latter three, which dealt with the passion from three different viewpoints, those of Matthew , Luke and John , were all done a cappella style. This was a near requirement for this type of piece, and the parts of the crowd were sung while the solo parts which were the quoted parts from either Christ or the authors were performed in a plainchant . In the Byzantine Rite of the Eastern Orthodox Church and
5040-408: The meaning of humanity the way Walt Whitman did, considering all of its glorious and horrifying possibilities". LA Times noted that Siouxsie and the Banshees's version contained "a solemn string section behind the vocals" and "a bridge of New Orleans funeral-march jazz" which enhanced the singer's "evocative interpretation". The group's rendition was selected by the Mojo staff to be included on
5120-411: The mid-20th century. The Free Methodist Church allowed for local church decision on the use of either an organ or piano in the 1943 Conference before lifting the ban entirely in 1955. The Reformed Free Methodist Church and Evangelical Wesleyan Church were formed as a result of a schism with the Free Methodist Church, with the former retaining a cappella worship and the latter retaining the rule limiting
5200-571: The name Smooth McGroove rose to prominence with his style of a cappella music. He is best known for his a cappella covers of video game music tracks on YouTube . in 2015, an a cappella version of Jerusalem by multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier was selected for Beats by Dre "The Game Starts Here" for the England Rugby World Cup campaign. A cappella has been used as the sole orchestration for original works of musical theatre that have had commercial runs Off-Broadway (theatres in New York City with 99 to 500 seats) only four times. The first
5280-402: The number of instruments in the church to the piano and organ. While worship in the Temple in Jerusalem included musical instruments, traditional Jewish religious services in the Synagogue, both before and after the last destruction of the Temple, did not include musical instruments given the practice of scriptural cantillation . The use of musical instruments is traditionally forbidden on
5360-448: The public so that fans can remix them. One such example is the a cappella release of Jay-Z 's Black Album , which Danger Mouse mixed with the Beatles ' White Album to create The Grey Album . On their 1966 album titled Album , Peter, Paul and Mary included the song "Norman Normal". All the sounds on that song, both vocals and instruments, were created by Paul's voice, with no actual instruments used. In 2013, an artist by
5440-475: The recording, Holiday starts singing after 70 seconds. It was recorded on April 20, 1939. Gabler worked out a special arrangement with Vocalion Records to record and distribute the song. Holiday recorded two major sessions of the song at Commodore, one in 1939 and one in 1944. The song was highly regarded; the 1939 recording eventually sold a million copies, in time becoming the biggest-selling recording of Holiday's career. In her 1956 autobiography, Lady Sings
5520-406: The song at Madison Square Garden and introduced it to her. Holiday first performed the song at Café Society in 1939. She said that singing it made her fearful of retaliation but, because its imagery reminded her of her father, she continued to sing the piece, making it a regular part of her live performances. Because of the power of the song, Josephson drew up some rules: Holiday would close with it;
5600-401: The style of the chapel ' ), less commonly spelled a capella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment . The term a cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato musical styles. In the 19th century, a renewed interest in Renaissance polyphony, coupled with an ignorance of
5680-440: The synagogue, and it is only used from Rosh Chodesh Elul through the end of Yom Kippur . The shofar is used by itself, without any vocal accompaniment, and is limited to a very strictly defined set of sounds and specific places in the synagogue service. However, silver trumpets , as described in Numbers 10:1-18, have been made in recent years and used in prayer services at the Western Wall . Peter Christian Lutkin, dean of
5760-520: The voices. Such is seen in the life of Palestrina becoming a major influence on Bach , most notably in the Mass in B Minor . Other composers that utilized the a cappella style, if only for the occasional piece, were Claudio Monteverdi and his masterpiece, Lagrime d'amante al sepolcro dell'amata (A lover's tears at his beloved's grave), which was composed in 1610, and Andrea Gabrieli when upon his death many choral pieces were discovered, one of which
5840-648: The waiters would stop all service in advance; the room would be in darkness except for a spotlight on Holiday's face; and there would be no encore. During the musical introduction to the song, Holiday stood with her eyes closed, as if she were evoking a prayer. Holiday approached her recording label, Columbia, about the song, but the company feared reaction by record retailers in the South , as well as negative reaction from affiliates of its co-owned radio network, CBS . When Holiday's producer John Hammond also refused to record it, she turned to her friend Milt Gabler , owner of
5920-560: The world (see list of laureates in the Misplaced Pages article on the EGP competition). The reasons for the strong Swedish dominance are as explained by Richard Sparks manifold; suffice to say here that there is a long-standing tradition, an unusually large proportion of the populations (5% is often cited) regularly sing in choirs, the Swedish choral director Eric Ericson had an enormous impact on
6000-425: Was Avenue X which opened on 28 January 1994, and ran for 77 performances. It was produced by Playwrights Horizons with book by John Jiler, music and lyrics by Ray Leslee. The musical style of the show's score was primarily doo-wop as the plot revolved around doo-wop group singers of the 1960s. In 2001, The Kinsey Sicks , produced and starred in the critically acclaimed off-Broadway hit, DRAGAPELLA! Starring
6080-808: Was established as an outgrowth of the local St. John's Lutheran Church , where Christiansen was organist and the choir was composed, at least partially, of students from the nearby St. Olaf campus. The success of the ensemble was emulated by other regional conductors, and a tradition of a cappella choral music was born in the region at colleges like Concordia College (Moorhead, Minnesota), Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois), Waldorf University (Forest City, Iowa), Luther College (Decorah, Iowa), Gustavus Adolphus College (St. Peter, Minnesota), Augustana College (Sioux Falls, South Dakota), and Augsburg University (Minneapolis, Minnesota). The choirs typically range from 40 to 80 singers and are recognized for their efforts to perfect blend, intonation, phrasing and pitch in
6160-534: Was in the unaccompanied style. Learning from the preceding two composers, Heinrich Schütz utilized the a cappella style in numerous pieces, chief among these were the pieces in the oratorio style, which were traditionally performed during the Easter week and dealt with the religious subject matter of that week, such as Christ's suffering and the Passion . Five of Schutz's Historien were Easter pieces, and of these
6240-876: Was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1978 . It was also included in the " Songs of the Century " list of the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts . In 2002, "Strange Fruit" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". "Strange Fruit" originated as
6320-607: Was premiered in 1958 by the New York City Opera . According to his adopted son Robert Meeropol , the songs "Strange Fruit" and "The House I Live In," along with the Peggy Lee hit "Apples, Peaches and Cherries," provided most of the royalty income of the family. "Apples, Peaches and Cherries" was translated into French by Sacha Distel and became a number one hit in France under the title " Scoubidou ." Meeropol filed
6400-559: Was so well known for her rendition of "Strange Fruit" that "she crafted a relationship to the song that would make them inseparable". Holiday's 1939 version of the song was included in the National Recording Registry on January 27, 2003. In October 1939, Samuel Grafton of the New York Post said of "Strange Fruit", "If the anger of the exploited ever mounts high enough in the South, it now has its Marseillaise ." The anti-lynching movement adopted "Strange Fruit" as its anthem. Since
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