Studwell names ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’
as his Carol of the Year for 2004

by Joe King

As lively and exciting as the day it made its debut, the spiritual “Go Tell It on the Mountain” has been named Christmas Carol of the Year for 2004.

The selection was made by William Studwell, an NIU professor emeritus recognized as one of the world’s foremost experts on Christmas carols.

Studwell worked at NIU from 1970 until 2000, retiring from the post of principal cataloguer at Founders Memorial Library. He has named a Carol of the Year for 19 years.

“It is an energetic, inspired carol,” Studwell says of this year’s selection, a century-old tune that tells the story of the birth of Christ and urges listeners to spread the word. “It is the greatest of all American folk carols.”

Like many carols, the precise history of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” is a bit fuzzy.

Although generally considered an anonymous work, Studwell believes the piece was written by Frederick Jerome Work (1880-1942), a black composer, teacher and scholar.

Work was deeply involved in the collection, arrangement and dissemination of black spirituals, Studwell says, indicating it is possible that Work only discovered and preserved the song. However, Studwell’s research has led him to believe that Work actually penned the piece, which then was arranged and disseminated by his nephew, John Wesley Work.

Studwell places its first publication in the early 1900s, but the piece gained little notice until the 1920s, when the Fisk University Singers began performing the song. Even then, it did not make much of a splash.

“I looked through hundreds of carol collections and other song books and I could not find it in any collection prior to the 1950s,” says Studwell.

About that time the song steadily began to gain in popularity, winning over listeners with its jazzy energetic beat and its enthusiastic call to action.

“Most carols of the 20th century are not so enthusiastic. This is more like some of the older carols, like ‘Joy to the World’ or ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ in that regard,” Studwell says. “It shows some real enthusiasm for the Christmas holiday.”

Several black spirituals have become popular Christmas carols, he notes.

Those include “Children, Go Where I Send Thee,” “Mary Had a Baby” and “Rise Up Shepherd and Follow.” Carols arising from that genre are typically emotional, frequently inventive, generally tuneful and sometimes poignant, he says.

Studwell began researching Christmas carols in 1972 when he created a pamphlet about “Oh Holy Night” as a gift for a family member.

Since then, he has researched and written about hundreds of carols and has conducted more than 350 media interviews on the topic for newspapers, radio and television. He also has served as an adviser to several projects compiling recordings and lyrics of carols.

Studwell is also a champion of other musical genres he believes are under-appreciated, and has written extensively on college fight songs, state songs, patriotic music and circus music, becoming a nationally recognized expert in each of those fields. He has written 35 books in all.

Studwell currently resides in Bloomington, Ind. His wife, Ann, who died in April of 2003, worked at NIU from 1973 until 2003, mostly as an instructor in computer science.

11-29-04