A page from Dawson’s manuscript score for the Negro Folk Symphony, displaying part of its second movement.

Negro Folk Symphony’s second movement uses various techniques to accomplish programmatic effects. Three gong strokes suggest the Trinity, which guides "the destiny of man." A background of pizzicato strings depicts the life of slaves in bondage. Tolling bells bring a mood of grief and lament. In contrast to the second movement, the third and final movement of Negro Folk Symphony paints a happier scene. Dawson uses two African American melodies, "O Le' Me Shine, Le' Me Shine Lik' A Mornin' Star" and "Hallelujah, Lord, I Been Down Into the Sea" to depict the play of children unmindful of the cadences of despair and their slave heritage.