Spirituals become slow art in well-meaning concert

"Deep River" is one of the most familiar and beloved spirituals in the canon. It was, in fact, the first spiritual to gain widespread popularity -- to bridge, in effect, the gap between folk and art song, atop which spirituals as a genre continue precariously to balance. It was recorded in the early 20th century by the (white) violinist Maud Powell, arranged for piano by the (black, British) composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, and finally arranged by the doyen of spirituals, Harry Burleigh, a stud...