Several speakers recalled her pathbreaking role as an African-American soprano.

“Throughout her life, Jessye fought for justice,” said Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation. “She fought for justice onstage, even with her very presence, breaking barriers with her blackness, and defying exclusion with her excellence.”

With the memorial — featuring both Strauss songs and spirituals — Ms. Norman joined a select group to be honored in death at the Met. The composer Giacomo Puccini and the singers Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti and Beverly Sills all had memorials or special concerts held in their memories; some artists have even had their funerals held there, including the conductors Leopold Damrosch and Anton Seidl in the 19th century, and the tenor Richard Tucker in 1975.

Jack Lang, the former French minister of culture, spoke of choosing Ms. Norman to sing “La Marseillaise” in 1989 at Place de la Concorde in Paris before world leaders and millions of television viewers for the 200th anniversary of Bastille Day.