This is a new printing of the original on sturdy, acide-free paper. The author includes this note:
“This transcription of the well-known Negro melody is virtually an improvisation, inspired some years ago by the organ in the
Mormon Tabernacale, Salt Lake City. On this organ the author had the unique pleasure of performing; the exquisite beauty of the
Vox humana will at once be recalled by all who have heard it.” 8 pages. Highest quality guaranteed. Size
of music is
9.5" x 12.5". $7.00.
Carl Rossini Diton (1886-1962) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied music
with his father, Samuel James Diton, and followed this by music study at the University of Pennsylvania, from which he received
a BS degree in 1909. He was the first Negro pianist to make a transcontinental tour (1909-1910). After music study in Munich,
Germany, he was music director at Paine College in Augusta, Georgia (1911-1914), Wiley College in Marshall, Texas (1914-1915),
and Talladega College in Talladega, Alabama (1915-1918). He studied further at the Juilliard School, from which he received a
diploma in 1930. During his career, he also performed as a baritone (beginning in 1926) and was accompanist for singers,
including Marian Anderson and Ezio Pinza. He taught privately in Philadelphia and New York City, as well as being organist
and choir director, including St Martin Episcopal Church in Harlem. His compositions include arrangements of spirituals for
voice, choir and organ, and a symphony for orchestra. Diton died on January 25, 1962, in Philadelphia.
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot was published in 1873 in a collection of spirituals
titled “The Jubilee Singers,” after a student group from Fisk University that first sang these songs on tour.
Diton wrote his Opus 2 after his improvisation while playing the IV/62 Kimball (1901) at the Mormon Tabernacle. This piece
is the first organ publication of a spiritual. Please notice that Diton dedicated this piece “In memory of Booker T.
Washington to whom this melody perhaps was dearest.” Moderate.