https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/still-william-grant-1895-1978, Manheim, James "Still, William Grant 18951978 William Grant Still. Steve Reich was an American composer who was one of the primary exponents of Minimalism, a style built on repetitions and combinations of basic melodies and harmonies. The next selection was William Grant Still's "Suite for Violin and Piano," a three-movement work inspired by sculptors. . On October 4, 1915,[7] Still married Grace Bundy, whom he had met while they were both at Wilberforce. What have the artifacts found at the site revealed about Anglo-Saxon culture? He met her after moving to L.A. Composer, conductor [10]:6,12, Still started violin lessons in Little Rock at the age of 15. . Corrections? Current address 19591 Saratoga Springs Pl, Ashburn, VA 20147 $1,940: B. The first melody, played by a muted trumpet, overlays the instantly recognizable harmonic pattern of the 12-bar blues. Interestingly, several measures into the first theme is a tune that closely resembles Gershwins I Got Rhythm. Did Gershwin get his melody from Still, or was it the other way around? Since 1976, the United States has officially recognized February as Black History Month, an annual time to recognize the central roles blacks have played in U.S. history and a celebration of the achievements of African Americans in our culture and society. [7] It was the first time the complete score of a work by an African American was performed by a major orchestra. This opera was later performed in Los Angeles in 1976 as part of the U.S. While there he became a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. His father was bandmaster in Woodville; after his death when Still was in infancy, his mother moved the family to Little Rock, Ark., where she became a high school teacher. A bluesy violin melody is accompanied by stride piano in the third movement of Stills Suite for Violin and Piano, producing a mainly homophonic texture. What is the name of the first melody theme in Still's Afro-American Symphony? Upon his return from serving in the navywhat did he do musically? What role does William Grants music play in the Harlem Renaissance movements ideals? She collaborated with him on his music. They were married on Feb. 6, 1939. His ballets La guiablesse (1927) and Sahdji (1929, with a story by Harlem Renaissance writer Alain Locke) were danced by both black and white artists. [1]:2[7] Still's granddaughter is journalist Celeste Headlee, a daughter of Judith Anne. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. What was bebops signature style? Many ensembles made recordings, and names like Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and Artie Shaw became well-known. Several of Stills works of the 1940s were rooted in serious events of the day and gained wide renown; his 1940 choral cantata with narrator, And They Lynched Him on a Tree, evoked the violence directed at the Southern black population, and the orchestral In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy (1943) was one of several World War II-themed works he composed. Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire. 2, 1975, pp. As a result, swing music rapidly became popular outside of nightclubs. Over his career, Still wrote over 150 compositions, including operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber works, choral pieces, and solo vocal works. He conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. He conducted the university band. Where did William Grant Still study music? Stills concern with the position of African Americans in U.S. society is reflected in many of his works, notably the Afro-American Symphony; the ballets Sahdji (1930), set in Africa and composed after extensive study of African music, and Lenox Avenue (1937); and the operas The Troubled Island (1938; produced 1949), with a libretto by Langston Hughes, and Highway No. In addition to the MLA, Chicago, and APA styles, your school, university, publication, or institution may have its own requirements for citations. Why was he buried in a ship? According to the Duke University Library website, Stills Afro-American Symphony was, until 1950, the most popular of any symphony composed by an American. It touched off a period of sustained success for Still; works such as his orchestral suite The Deserted Plantation found performances at major venues (the Paul Whiteman Orchestra performed that work at the Metropolitan Opera House). Updates? Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/william-grant-still. He wrote eight operas, and Troubled Island made history as the first by an American composer to be performed by the illustrious New York City Opera. However, the date of retrieval is often important. C. played the violin in the university stringquartet while a college student. His most significant symphonic compositions are the Afro-American Symphony (1930), Symphony No. Even today, black composers remain on the outskirts of the classical music establishment. William Grant Still was born in Woodville, Mississippi. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Despite receiving no formal education in orchestra tion or conducting, Morton Gould became one of the most prominen, Schuman, William What Instruments Are Used in Hip Hop Music? He was born in Woodville, Mississippi, and died in Los Angeles, California, in December. A good survey of Still's career through 1971 was found in Eileen Southern's, Music of Black Americans (1971). Still . Although Stills music was considered too crowdpleasing [19] Still developed a close professional relationship with Hanson; many of Still's compositions were performed for the first time in Rochester. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. [1]:5 William Grant StillSr. died when his infant son was three months old. | A. Because he was an excellent orchestrator, Still was engaged by such celebrities as Paul Whiteman, Don Voorhees, Sophie Tucker, Willard Robison, and Artie Shaw to prepare orchestral arrangements. He was the son of two _____ 14. Making things even worse from Stills mothers point of view was that Still now began to make a living by. Is William Grant Still related to William Still? D. held a graduate degree from Oberlin CollegeConservatory of Music. Marker Address Rent ? His accurate portrayals of African American life in the South using folk materials and dialects aptly complement Stills efforts to interweave African and European traditions in his piece. performing ragtime and jazz, which she despised. Classical composer [16] With Henderson, he joined Henry Pace's Pace Phonograph Company (Black Swan). William Grant Still (1895-1978) has been called the dean of African American composers. Encyclopedia.com. His contributions to African-American music are significant: He was the first African-American composer to have a symphony played by a major American orchestra (Afro-American Symphony ), the first to have an opera performed by a major company, the first to conduct a major orchestra, and one of the first to write for radio, films, and television. How do the historical facts become part of the fictional narrative? Retrieved February 23, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/still-william-grant. . William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895 - December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, plus art songs, chamber music and works for solo instruments. "Still, William Grant They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. On December 1, 1976, his home was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #169. In 1919, he moved to New York City. He started violin lessons at age 15. Although he was born in Woodville, Mississippi, composer William Grant Still grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Hungry for more listening? His second marriage was to Verna Arvey. ." It was premiered by Howard Hanson and the Rochester Philharmonic. Still broke racial barriers and earned many firsts in the realm of classical music. He preferred blues as a source of inspiration for his music since it lacked the impact of Caucasian music. He made major contributions to African-American music: He was the first African-American composer to have an opera performed by a major company, the first to direct a big orchestra, and one of the first to write for. Smith, Jessie Carney, ed., Notable Black American Men, Gale, 1998. Some features will not work correctly. Today, Stills daughter Judith believes that the First Symphony shows him recognizing, with joy, that God had given him a gift that would change the thinking of the public. Douglas Shadle is an assistant professor of musicology at Vanderbilt University. Encyclopedia.com. How is Steve Reichs Music for 18 Musicians typical of the minimalist genre? Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. Encyclopedia.com. The next two movements capture distinct moods with melodic material borrowed from the first movement and transformed in new contexts. By blending jazz, blues, and spirituals into a traditional classical form and placing them within the context of the concert hall, Still highlights these styles as something to be celebrated, rather than downcast as low class or vulgar music. In 1930 I rented a room in a quiet building not far from my home in New York and began to work. And he was inspired: the symphony was finished in two months. One of the few African Americans to have enjoyed a successful career in the rather closed-in world of acade, 22 He was the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony (his first symphony) performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the . [6], William Grant Still Jr. was born on May 11, 1895, in Woodville, Mississippi. Still had adopted central tenets of the Harlem Renaissance by this time, most notably philosopher (and friend) Alain Lockes concept of the new African American as an individual who would vindicate blackness from racist stereotypes and reclaim it from white exploitation. His widow Verna Arvey wrote and published his biography, In One Lifetime: A Biography of William Grant Still, in 1984. What unique instrument did William Grant Still introduced into the orchestra for his work the Afro-American Symphony? Encyclopedia.com. : Symphonies Nos. As the first movement continues to develop the jazzy melodies from the first theme, however, it transitions to a second theme with a melancholy mood, with pentatonic contours suggestive of an African American spiritual. When purchasing the CD using this link, All Classicals programming receives 10% from the sale. Orchestration: flutes (3 = piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, percussion (bells, bass drum, snare drum, cymbals, gong, triangle, vibraphone), harp, celesta, banjo, & strings, First Los Angeles Philharmonic performance: July 23, 1940, David Broekman conducting. The first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony (his first symphony) performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company, and the first to have an opera performed on . He did do other jobs besides arranging music. Part of which included five symphonies and eight operas. When Howard Hanson led the Rochester Philharmonic in a performance of Still's Afro-American Symphony in 1931, it marked the first time a symphonic work by a black composer was performed by a leading symphony orchestra. Suite for Violin and Piano - William Grant Still (music starts at 3:57)African DancerMother and ChildGaminTeresa Ling, violinJeannette Fang, pianofilmed by T. FALSE Question #2 As a young person, William Grant Still was hired to write arrangements for A. Duke Ellington. William Grant Still)", "STILL, W.S. ." "[23] According to Still's granddaughter, he couldn't attend the fair except on "Negro Day" without police protection. Accessed 30 Jan 2-18. In 1939 he remarried; his second wife, Verna Arvey (who later wrote a biography of Still), was a Jewish concert pianist, and he wrote the piano collection Seven Traceries and other piano music as a result. See also Music in the United States; Opera. 2, "Song of a New Race" and 3, "The Sunday Symphony" / Wood Notes (Fort Smith Symphony, Jeter) 8.559676", "A Black Composer's Intense Opera Gets a Rare Staging - William Grant Still's one-act "Highway 1, U.S.A." runs in St. Louis through June 17", The New Grove Dictionary of American Music, William Grant Still, Interview (1949; 30:49). Paulette Coleman He received his first Guggenheim Fellowship[20] and started work on the first of his nine operas, Blue Steel. (February 23, 2023). The third, which features a banjo for local color, is a leap for joy. [21], In 1936, Still conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl; he was the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra in a performance of his own works. Incidental Music : The Prince and the Mermaid (1965). Many of his compositions were inspired by the black experience in America. Bicentennial celebration and Black History Week, and was telecast on Public Broadcast Service (PBS) in 1981. Addresses. by some critics, Philadelphia Orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski called him one of Americas greatest composers. 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. 3, 1945; Oberlin, Ohio, Nov. 9, 1970); Africa (1930); A Deserted Plantation (1933); Kaintuck (Kentucky) for Piano and Orch. [14], He recorded with Fletcher Henderson's Dance Orchestra in 1921,[15]:85 and later played in the pit orchestra for Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake's musical, Shuffle Along[1]:4 and in other pit orchestras for Sophie Tucker, Artie Shaw, and Paul Whiteman. Prolific and influential, many call William Grant Still the "Dean of African American composers" and it's not hard to see why. 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