Harry T. Burleigh’s settings of spirituals in the art song tradition began a tradition that was mirrored in the work of some of his contemporaries. Notable among them were Edward Boatner, R. Nathaniel Dett, and Hall Johnson. Dett and Johnson also distinguished themselves as arrangers of spirituals for choral performance, following in the tradition of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.

Building on the early work of Burleigh and his contemporaries, dozens of composers over the years have contributed to the repertoire of art song arrangements of spirituals for solo performance. Included in the long line of composers in this tradition are such notables as J. Rosamond Johnson, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, John W. Work, Wendell Whalum, Hale Smith, Betty Jackson King, Roland Carter, Uzee Brown, Jr., and Jacqueline Hairston.

The art song spirituals arrangements of Burleigh and other composers paved the way for a new generation of classically trained African American singers who would insist on a prominent place for spirituals in their public recital programs. The pioneers of this new movement were singers Roland Hayes, Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson, whose work spurred dozens of other artists who would follow their model in reserving an honored place for spirituals in most important recital programs.