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The Life and Choral Works of Jester Hairston

and limited alto/tenor divisi are unknown. Howev- Spiritual Arrangements
er, one explanation may stem from an awareness of
high school ensemble needs during the era. As previ-
ously mentioned, Hairston initially started publishing Elijah Rock
his works after leading a ten-day high school festival SSATB, unaccompanied
at College of the Pacific. He regularly returned each (Also available for SSA)
summer for this event and led other clinics with high Duration, 2:30
school ensembles throughout the country. In choral en- Bourne Co., 1955
sembles, it is common to have an abundance of treble Ranges
voices and a lack of tenor-bass voices, an issue that was
also prevalent throughout Hairston’s career. Having
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regularly worked with high school students as a clini-
cian, it is possible that Hairston favored SSATB voicing
to accommodate for this imbalance of treble and ten-
or-bass voices. Elijah Rock is a highly popular spiritual that has been
a thematic source for many arrangers throughout the
past century. Considering its popularity, it is surpris-
Selected Works ing to learn that Elijah Rock would have likely been lost
To demonstrate Hairston’s inspirational and compo- to time if not for the work of Hall Johnson and Jester
sitional proclivities, six works were selected as a rep- Hairston.
resentative survey of Hairston’s published collection. In 1932, while serving as the assistant conductor of
They are divided into three categories: spiritual ar- the Hall Johnson Choir, Hairston and Johnson were in-
rangements (Elijah Rock and Hold On), Christmas (Mary’s formed by a chorus member of a former enslaved man
Little Boy Chile and Christmas Gift), and folk/secular (No living in Keyport, New Jersey. According to the member,
Ne Li Domi and Goin’ Down that Lonesome Road). The the elderly man could sing spirituals that “probably no
works were selected for their interesting musical fea- one in the world [knew] anything about.” Recounting
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tures, historical background, and serve as examples of the story in his autobiography, Hairston wrote:
Hairston’s interest in fictional narratives, sound effects,
and diverse cultures. In addition, general information We went way down there one day to Key-
(voicing, instrumentation, duration, publisher, year of port, New Jersey and got down there about 9
publication, and vocal ranges) as well as performance o’clock in the morning and played all day with
considerations are provided for each work to aid choral his great, great grandchildren. There were so
directors with repertoire selection and score study. many of them. That evening we got into his
To view a playlist with recordings and interviews, house. The room was so small and there were
scan the QR code below or use the URL to find the so many great grandchildren… They said, “If
playlist on YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=V you ignore him, he might sing for you.” So I
xRtGXHxkiY&list=PLsyAGxXV7Z-GtCuL1IVp_ didn’t pay him any mind. I led his family all
WyAJCqbfBetF sittin’ around in these songs, … everything but
a spiritual. After a while, he felt left out. So he
hunched me in the ribs and said, “You boys
YouTube Playlist QR Code know this song?” So I said, “What is it, sir?”
And he sings, “Elijah Rock shout, shout. Elijah
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Rock.”

As the man sang, Hall Johnson quickly and discreetly
notated the tune. Upon leaving, Johnson told Hairston,

26 CHORAL JOURNAL October 2025 Volume 66 Number 3