These five spirituals for unaccompanied chorus, despite the occasional appearance of complexity are basically simple: the harmony, indeed, is of the simplest possible. The apparent complexity arises primarily from the number of parts, which are not however all real parts. These, in fact, seldom comprise more than the traditional four. Lines are frequently doubled at the octave, rather in the manner of organ registration, so that the chorus needs to be thought of as an organ-like body producing a...

• Steal away (Stiehl dich fort)
• Nobody knows (Wer kennt die Not, Herr)
• Go down, Moses (Geh hin, Moses)
• By and by (Für und für)
• Deep river (Tiefes Wasser)