A few years ago, I attended a concert in which a group of predominantly White singers, directed by a White conductor, performed what on the surface seemed to be an African - American spiritual. After looking closer at the origins of this piece, I discovered that this spiritual was actually composed by a contemporary White composer. My friend who attended the concert with me, informed me of this, and also mentioned that he had met the composer of this piece and had asked him why he thought that it was appropriate to write music in this style. The composer did not have a good answer for my friend, and avoided answering the question by giving a incoherent response.
This is an example of shallow multiculturalism in that the choir director either knowingly or unknowingly did not convey to the choir that this piece wasn’t adding diverse voices to the canon or choral repertoire
After the concert, I talked to one of the singers. I asked him what his favorite piece was, and he responded that it was the gospel song. He told me that it was great that the choir was able to “sing music that wasn’t composed by White men.” It shocked and abhorred me that this choir director had not told these students about the composer of this “spiritual,” who was indeed a White man!
After I communicated this to the student, he responded that he didn’t think he choir director knew that. This is an example of shallow multiculturalism in that the choir director either knowingly or unknowingly did not convey to the choir that this piece wasn’t adding diverse voices to the canon of choral repertoire, but instead was replicating the existing “White male composer” phenomenon, and taking it a step further by including a piece composed by a White man in an appropriated style.
Even if the piece had been written by a Black composer, it still would been an act of shallow multiculturalism for the choir to sing the piece without a lesson on the history of black spirituals , and their intertwined relationship with slavery and oppression in the United States. Many choirs sing Black spirituals without knowledge of this painful history, and the role that these songs played as vehicles of liberation. This serves as a prime example of shallow multiculturalism in that an enjoyable cultural activity is being undertaken, such as singing, while the pain behind the experiences referenced in the songs chosen, and the context that birthed this style of music too often goes unspoken of and untaught by educators.