Prompt #12 Oliver Tesar

 My biggest takeaway from the course was how broad and diverse gospel and spirituals were. Before the class, I may not have even known the difference between the two. Now I understand how African American music evolved beyond my knowledge of jazz. How different historical events like the four religious awakenings and the civil rights movement influenced the course of Gospel. I also have a clearer picture of soul music now, thanks to learning about gospel's influence. Overall, there were many interesting connections, whether between music and history or genre to genre.

For my performance, I am posting a performance of Paul Robeson. I was surprised that I hadn't heard of him before I discovered him in an early module's blog post. Who knew he was so wide-reaching as
to also sing an excerpt from Beethoven's famous "Ode To Joy" (Symphony no. 9, Movement IV).