The Music of Same Church, Different Pews

Pioneers in American music, J. Robert Bradley and Charles Faulkner Bryan operated on the cusp of several major shifts in styles. Robert sang church music with all the fervor of the sainted, but with a distinct preference for a classical approach. Charles fell in the camp of classical composers – from Dvorak to Copland – whose work often leaned on folk music. Robert became a major figure in what we now call the “Golden Age of Gospel,” performing in churches and concert halls across America and six continents. Charles, during the "Golden Age of Classical," joined the swelling ranks of composers, arrangers and singers bringing folk music to American college campuses, presaging by scant years the popularity of Pete Seeger and the music helping fuel the Civil Rights Movement.