Were You There
The spiritual as Hampton Institute's singers sang it, for 2 to 4 singers: the soprano asks each verse's question alone, the others echo her under her held note, and everyone sings the rest in harmony, through "Sometimes it causes me to tremble" to the question once more. Four verses. Slow and quiet.
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The first verse
Words: traditional spiritual, as sung at Hampton Institute (published 1909)Tune: traditional spiritual, as sung at Hampton Institute (published 1909)
Were you therewhen they crucified my Lord?Were you therewhen they crucified my Lord? Oh!Sometimes it causes me to tremble,tremble tremble, Were you therewhen they crucified my Lord?
About Were You There
Were You There is a spiritual as Hampton Institute's singers sang it. The school's songbook, edited by R. Nathaniel Dett in 1927, also prints a related spiritual, "Did You Hear How Dey Crucified My Lord?", and notes that this one seemed "to be universally more popular". Our tune and words are read from that book's reprint of the 1909 setting, in G as printed; the four parts are our own, checked against its chords. This is four of its five verses for 2 to 4 singers, slow and quiet: the soprano asks each verse's question alone, the others echo her under her held note, and everyone sings the rest together.
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