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spiritual & gospel – Rome -
GOSPEL & SPIRITUAL
GOSPEL comes from the Christian liturgy word Gospel, formed by the two terms GOD and SPELL; for this reason in the lyrics of Gospel music we find episodes coming from the Old and New Testament; while SPIRITUAL has lyrics generally based on suffering and hope, the Holy Hope that belongs to the Christian tradition, always giving glory to God's will.
This music has some of its origins in the fusion between the African musical tradition and some elements of Western liturgical songs, which probably occurred in the 18th century. The new songs were passed on by mouth; many changes have occurred, passing from simple popular rhythms to more sophisticated and harmonised music, performed by choirs with several voices, evolving with those syncopated rhythms that would have developed even more in non religious music such as BLUES, SWING and JAZZ.