Recorded December 31, 1926.
The Quartet was the deliberate creation of Éduard J. de Coppet of New York, who in 1902 engaged the original members to devote themselves entirely to quartet-playing, and not with any view to giving regular concerts in public. The group took its name from de Coppet's summer villa near Lausanne, in Switzerland, where the four musicians first rehearsed. After a long period of practice, the Quartet made a European tour and won high praise for the perfection of its ensemble and its artistic finish. Both violinists and the violist had been students of the Belgian maestro César Thomson. The group was first heard in New York, in private and at charity concerts, in autumn 1904, but it did not give a public concert in the USA until 5 December 1905. After that it appeared regularly in Europe and America. The members stuck to the original principle of not accepting any outside engagement, and having no pupils, and by devoting themselves entirely to the quartet maintained a position of acknowledged superiority in their field. They disbanded in 1928. (from Wikipedia)
Deep River - written before 1875
Quartet arrangement by Alfred Pochon
This moving song is unusual among spirituals because it is more of a soloistic tune with a few large intervals and rubato timing. The first word, "Deep," is set to three descending tones (III, II, and I of the scale) and suggests the looser timing. The first line, "Deep river, my home is over Jordan," contains an octave skip from "is" to "over" (I to I octava), a musical gesture, an energetic cry which depicts the distance to be traveled. The next line, "Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into the campground," is set to notes in the lower register that give a feeling of introspection and prayerful hope, matching the text. The central bridge passage is usually sung to a more steady beat. "Oh! Don't you want to go to that glorious gospel feast/That promised land where all is peace?" The last three musical phrases are identical for "that glorious...," "That promised...," and "where all...." The entire first section is then recapitulated.
The symbolism of the words is scarcely hidden, "campground," for instance, indicating a land of freedom in several other spirituals. Freedom here and now was meant, as well as freedom in the afterlife. Dr. Howard Thurman, in his book Deep River: Reflections on the Religious Insight of Certain of the Negro Spirituals (1945), discusses the ingredients of the spiritual from nature, experience, and the Bible. H.L. Mencken once suggested that the same unknown genius who wrote "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" also penned "Deep River" and "Roll, Jordan, Roll."
It is known from the programs of the legendary Fisk Jubilee Singers, founded and directed by George Leonard White, that this spiritual or jubilee song was part of their repetoire in the early to mid-1870s as they toured to raise money for Fisk University in Nashville, TN. It was also published in J.B.T. Marsh's The Story of the Jubilee Singers (Cleveland [1892]).
Arguably, the best modern arrangement of the song is the 1917 setting for voice and piano by Harry T. Burleigh (1866 - 1949), with its sophisticated yet simple modal harmonies. ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Music Guide
7:21
3:25
15:37
