Varèse encouraged his lyric gifts, introduced him to modernist scores, challenged him to experiment with form, programmed his music on International Composers Guild concerts, and saw that he met conductors who would become his champions. William Grant Still (1895-1978) (USA) Sunday Symphony (1958) 1/2Dir : Carter R. Woods1. He views it first as a land of peace; peace that is partly pastoral in nature and partly spiritual. He composed more than thirty choral works. 2 "Song of a New Race" (1937)II. 3, also known as Symphony No. When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. The buoyant principal melody of the first movement, which recurs throughout the symphony, bears Still’s signatures: rising and falling thirds along with easy syncopation. 5, also known as Symphony No. Two expansive variations follow, building to the movement’s climactic statement, which begins as a stretching-out of the spiritual melody. 2 in g, “Song of a New Race”; Symphony No. In symphony 2 Still exploits the affinity of the added-sixth chord (so prevalent in pop music of his era) and the pentatonic scale (used by Dvorak memorably in the New World symphony and by Still in numerous pieces). During the 1930s and 1940s William Grant Still (1895-1978) was known as the "Dean of Afro-American Composers." 2 (“Song of a New Race”) combines African spiritual themes with Western classical music in a beautiful, engaging way. 3 "The Sunday Symphony", is a 1958 composition in four movements by American composer William Grant Still. Relevance Best sellers Release date Title (A–Z) Label & cat.no. After opening with the distant tom-toms that announce the work’s geographical focus, the flute intones a modal melody that arches upward from a rising whole step. After the first full orchestral performance (in Rochester, conducted by Howard Hanson on October 24, 1930; Barrère had conducted a cut-down orchestration for his Little Symphony the previous April), Still reported, “Africa was a sensation.” A year or two later, he commented, “I believe Africa will endure.” That it has been so little heard is the result of a contretemps with a publisher that remained unresolved until well after the composer’s death. 1, nicknamed the “Afro-American Symphony,” represented in the composer’s words “the Negro of days not. 2 with his earlier Symphony No. Afro-American Symphony, also known as Symphony No. Still, W G - Symphony No. 1 "represented the Negro of days not far removed from the Civil War," Symphony No. William Grant Still / William Levi Dawson, Duke Ellington - Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi: William Grant Still / William Levi Dawson, Duke Ellington - Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi - Symphony No. William Grant Still About this Piece. The final movement, which Still also arranged for Paul Whiteman orchestra, begins with solo for the basses, featuring a deliberately awkward, Varèse-like unresolved rising tritone. LIVE performance 19 April 2012. He beholds in his mind’s eye not the Africa of reality but an Africa mirrored in fancy, and radiantly ideal. Fort Smith Symphony / John Jeter. WILLIAM GRANT STILL: Symphony No. Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra conducted by John JeterI - The Awakening. Luther Henderson represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Evanston Public Library. Near the end of the middle section, the orchestra builds to a climax reminiscent of the moment when the sun rises in Debussy’s La Mer-a nod to Europe from across the Mediterranean, as it were. The Fort Smith Symphony in Arkansas under conductor John Jeter has undertaken a complete cycle of Still's orchestral music, and … Although the opening tom-toms from the first movement are never featured again, this movement firmly reinforces the initial African connection. 3, “The Sunday Symphony”; Wood Notes – Fort Smith Sym./ John Jeter – Naxos 8.559676, 61:39 ****: This is the concluding release of the complete symphonies of William Grant Still on Naxos. 2 in G minor 'Song of a New Race' by William Grant Still (1895-1978). By Catherine Parsons Smith is the author of William Grant Still (Illinois, 2008); William Grant Still: A Study in Contradictions (California, 2000); and Making Music in Los Angeles (California, 2007) , performed on … Sign up for e-mails about special offers, upcoming concerts, new recordings and more. This piece was Still’s way of showing hope for an integrated American society. William Grant Still (1895-1978) grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas; he attended Wilberforce College and, more briefly, Oberlin. Symphony No. 2 in G minor, also known as Symphony No. He took for himself the expressive liberties claimed by (white) modernists but flatly rejected their elitism. 1 in A-flat, "Afro-American" (1930) by William Grant Still was the first symphony written by an African American and performed for a United States audience by a leading orchestra. The symphony is about twenty minutes long. Symphony No. This page lists all recordings of Symphony No. The implicit postmodernism of Still’s aesthetic position-diversity of means, more open perspective on distinctions of genre-makes a reconsideration of his achievement especially timely today. Symphony No. Harlem / Duke Ellington ; orch. If you’re a fan of classical music and American history, Symphony No. Year Title / Performer Label / Catalog # AllMusic Rating; 2011 : William Grant Still: Symphonies Nos. [1] The work was first performed on December 10, 1937, by the Philadelphia Orchestra led by conductor Leopold Stokowski. (Although it was first performed in 1930, a “final” revision is dated 1935.) Moderately fast - song by William Grant Still, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi | Spotify. Near the climax of the first movement, and at key moments elsewhere, the brasses-trumpets and trombones especially, punctuate the texture with gestures suggesting call and response, elements of the African American essence that persistently asserts itself even as blacks were more fully integrated into the wider, more diverse American culture."[4]. Contained within its four movements are a heroic but soulful three-note melody, which graces its way across a plethora of musical textures before finally arriving at a glorious finale. It remained unrecorded, however, until this issue by Jarvi and Detroit, in 1993. By Ricky O’Bannonrobannon@bsomusic.org Throughout February, we will highlight the work of one of the often under-celebrated African-American contributors to the history of classical music. 5 “Western Hemisphere” by William Grant Still serves as an excellent starting point for studying America’s unique cultural footprint. William Grant Still, Darker America, Africa, Symphony No. It was premiered in 1931 by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. It continues with several dances, building excitement to the climactic re-statement of the rising-tritone theme. [4] According to one reviewer commenting on the premiere performance of the symphony by the Philadelphia Orchestra, "[The symphony]s characteristically expansive, lyrical string writing seems specifically intended to exploit that orchestra’s famously silky string sound. William Grant Still: Centenary Program 1895-1995. [1][2][3][4] The symphony is about thirty minutes long. His greater comfort with the expressive freedom gleaned from the modernists, now combined with more sophisticated formal and harmonic control, is evident. Composer William Grant Still is almost invariably represented on orchestral programs by his Symphony No. 1. William Grant Still Symphony No. Composed in 1930, William Grant Still’s Symphony No. Moderatly : the Awakening (4.13)2. 2 "Song of a New Race", is a 1937 composition in four movements by American composer William Grant Still. Long after Still had distanced himself from Varèse’s ultramodernist aesthetic, he reaffirmed his appreciation for his mentor’s teaching and his friendship. Many of his works are believed to be lost. The middle movement, composed in 1927, forms a serenely legato da capo aria, begun by the bassoon. 2 in G minor, "Song of a New Race": II. The edition used in this concert is the 1935 version, made available from a forthcoming volume in the series Music in the United States of America (MUSA). He worked as an arranger for early radio, on Broadway, and in Hollywood; major symphony orchestras performed his concert works; and an opera, written in collaboration with Langston Hughes, was produced by the New York City Opera. , performed on March 22, 2009 at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. 2", "Rescuing a Composer From Obscurity's Shadow", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Symphony_No._2_(Still)&oldid=1003761273, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 30 January 2021, at 15:19. Handy; two years later he became the oboist in the pit orchestra for Sissle and Blake’s groundbreaking Shuffle Along. When the show moved to Boston, Still sought out George Whitefield Chadwick for composition lessons. Two earlier, more “modernist” works (From the Land of Dreams, February 1925, and Levee Land, January 1926,) left his audiences puzzled rather than pleased. 2, Copyright © 2021 American Symphony Orchestra. He was the first African-American to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the United States, when in 1936, he directed the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in his 1 "Afro-American" and Symphony No.1 in A flat major, is a 1930 composition by William Grant Still, the first symphony written by an African American and performed for a United States audience by a leading orchestra. Composed in 1924 and premiered at Aeolian Hall on November 22, 1926, Eugene Goossens conducting, it was Still’s first extended piece, and the first in which Still was seen as having largely escaped Varèse’s influence. Symphony No. In symphony 2 Still exploits the affinity of the added-sixth chord (so prevalent in pop music of his era) and the pentatonic scale (used by Dvorak memorably in the New World symphony and by Still in numerous pieces). Although his connections with Hollywood were brief and occasionally controversial, Still remained in Los Angeles, eventually composing eight operas and a large quantity of orchestral and chamber music. 2 (Song Of A New Race) / Negro Folk Symphony / Harlem ‎ (CD, Album, Club, RE) Musical Heritage Society: 513912A: US: 1995 “The Africa of my imagination” is Still’s succinct description of this work in a letter to its first conductor, George Barrère. William Grant Still, Darker America, Africa, Symphony No. It was premiered by Howard Hansen and the Rochester Philharmonic in 1931 (Hanson was a noted exponent of contemporary American music). II. It is a symphonic piece for full orchestra, including celeste, … It is that heritage of his forebears binding him irrevocably to the past, and making it possible for him to form the most definite concept of Africa.”. The work was first performed on November 9, 1970 by the Oberlin College Orchestra conducted by Robert Baustian. 1 ("Afro-American"), but in his day he was championed by Stokowski and Rodzinski among others, and heard his works played by major symphony orchestras. By Catherine Parsons Smith is the author of William Grant Still (Illinois, 2008); William Grant Still: A Study in Contradictions (California, 2000); and Making Music in Los Angeles (California, 2007), Written for the concert Revisiting William Grant Still. 1330 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 23A, New York, NY 10019. 1 "Afro-American" is the first such work by a black American composer to be performed by a major American orchestra. Symphony No. The tutti expression of triumph comes over the opening “American Negro” theme. No wonder he struggled long and hard-for more than a decade-over Africa, and no wonder the work exudes aesthetic integrity even though Still never traveled to that continent. William Grant Still compared his Symphony No. Very slowly: 3:44III - Relaxation. If that symphony “represented the Negro of days not far removed from the Civil War,” Still saw the G Minor as representing “the American colored man of today, in so many instances a totally new individual produced through the fusion of White, Indian and Negro bloods” (his own mix.). An early period, relatively short-lived, reflected Varese’s influence most directly. 2, the last of a trilogy of works depicting the African-American experience, presents the vision of an integrated American society, while Symphony No. After the opening section, four horns enter with a syncopated, unequivocally tonal melody emphasizing a descending whole step and suggesting a spiritual. Still labeled the second of his periods, c. 1926-34, “Negroid.” In those years he shook off Varèse’s modernist influence in favor of invoking Black cultural traditions in more obvious ways than he had done previously. Contact with American civilization has not enabled him to completely overcome his inherent superstitious nature. 2 : (Song of a new race) : in G minor, William Grant Still. The work was first performed on February 12, 1984 by the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carlton Woodsi. The symphony is about eighteen minutes long. This program includes three landmarks in Still’s composing career; they represent aspects of the three style periods-variously shaped by his African American identity and his relationship with musical modernism-he later described. Symphony No. Moderately fast: 0:00II - Prayer. William Grant Still Born May 11, 1895, in Woodville, Mississippi, William Grant Still was one of the most important and celebrated African-American composers of the twentieth century. When Still returned to it (in 1927), he continued in a strikingly different style. The contrasting short motive that follows, played by the oboe and outlining a G-minor triad, is accompanied by dotted chords fashioned from an octatonic scale. Still’s program note reflects the seriousness of his purpose: “Darker America is representative of the American Negro, and suggests triumph over sorrows through fervent prayer.” He identifies an opening theme of “the American Negro” in the strings, a “sorrow theme” in the English horn, a theme of “hope” in the muted brass, a prayer “of numbed rather than anguished souls” in the oboe. The item Symphony no. 2 "Song of a New Race", is a 1937 composition in four movements by American composer William Grant Still. 2 in G Minor, "Song of a New Race": III. It is to him also a land of fanciful and mysterious romance; romance tinged with ineffable sorrow. Moderately Fast. I. He now laid claim to broader ground, choosing to utilize whatever materials he might, though without necessarily abandoning what he called the “Negroid.” The Symphony No. Slowly and deeply expressive By William Grant Still John Jeter , Fort Smith Symphony 2. Symphony No. A sketch of the initial segment of Africa may date from 1924. The accompanying pizzicato seventh chords are in a different key, giving the blues-like melody a polytonal context. Complete Excerpt. Symphony No. By the time he left New York in 1934 with a Guggenheim fellowship, Still was established as an arranger (on Broadway and in radio) and as a composer. Date Title ( A–Z ) Label & cat.no ] the Symphony is about thirty long. ) composition in four william grant still symphony 2 by American composer William Grant Still Symphony No Philadelphia Orchestra led by Leopold. Symphony ( 1958 ) 1/2Dir: Carter R. Woods1 forms a serenely legato da capo aria begun. 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