quartet-origins · garciacorona2023-close-harmony

At the turn of the twentieth century, vocal groups featuring close harmonies emerged as a popular musical ensemble configuration. ... African American quartets were well established by 1890 and regularly headlined performances featuring close-harmony aesthetics, providing models for white quartets. As Gage Averill shows in Four Parts, No Waiting, African American close-harmony ensembles of the nineteenth century, both professional and amateur, transformed European close-harmony performance practice and style.