Sahdji is a 1930 ballet composition in two-movements by American composer William Grant Still. [1] The ballet was first performed in 1931 under the direction of Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music. The work is about twenty minutes long. [2]
Sahdji is a 1930 ballet composition in two-movements by American composer William Grant Still. [1] The ballet was first performed in 1931 under the direction of Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music. The work is about twenty minutes long. [2]
A description of the ballet is presented as follows:
The setting of the ballet (which calls for chorus, as well) is a hunting festival of the Azande tribe in central Africa. Sahdji, the favorite wife of the Azande chieftain Konombju, is infatuated with his nephew and successor, Mrabo. While Konombju is away on a hunting expedition, Sahdji and Mrabo betray him; a few hours later, at sunset, the hunters return carrying Konombju's body: he has been killed on the expedition. According to tribal custom, the favorite wife of the chieftain must take her life when her husband dies. Sahdji, torn between her loyalty to the death vow and her desire for life and the love of Mrabo, dances before the bier of Konombju and finally stabs herself with the sacrificial dagger. [2]
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William Grant Still Jr. was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, art songs, chamber music, and solo works. Born in Mississippi and growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, Still attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and then Edgard Varèse. Because of his close association and collaboration with prominent African-American literary and cultural figures, Still is considered to be part of the Harlem Renaissance.
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Miss Sally's Party is a 1940 ballet composition in eight-movements by American composer William Grant Still. A related libretto was written by Verna Arvey, wife of composer Still. The ballet was first performed on May 2, 1941, and is about nineteen minutes long.
Lenox Avenue is a series of ten orchestral episodes and a finale composed in 1937 by American composer William Grant Still. The composition is for orchestra, chorus and announcer; the narration was written by Verna Arvey, wife of composer Still. The first performance was broadcast nationally on radio on May 23, 1937, conducted by Howard Barlow. A related ballet version was composed in 1938, and is about twenty-one minutes long.
Miniature is a musical composition in five movements composed in 1948 by American composer William Grant Still. The composition was originally created for trio and was later, in 1963, arranged for quintet. The composition is about twelve minutes long.
Symphony No. 3, also known as Symphony No. 3"The Sunday Symphony", is a 1958 composition in four movements by American composer 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.
Symphony No. 5, also known as Symphony No. 5"Western Hemisphere", is a 1945 composition in four movements by American composer William Grant Still. The work was first performed on November 9, 1970 by the Oberlin College Orchestra conducted by Robert Baustian. The symphony is about twenty minutes long.
La Guiablesse is a 1927 ballet composition in nine-movements by American composer William Grant Still. The ballet was first performed in 1933 by Howard Hanson and Thelma Biracree at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and Ruth Page in Chicago, Illinois. The work is about nineteen minutes long.
Africa is a 1930 symphonic poem in three movements by American composer William Grant Still. The work, originally scored for chamber orchestra, was first performed in 1930 by French flautist Georges Barrère and, in a full orchestra version, by Howard Hanson on October 24, 1930, at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. The work is about twenty-eight minutes long.
The American Scene is a musical composition consisting of five orchestral suites composed in 1957 by American composer William Grant Still.
Three Visions is a 1935 suite in three parts for solo piano, and later, the second part, Summerland, for chamber orchestra, by American composer William Grant Still. According to Judith Anne Still, the composer's daughter, "The three segments of the suite, Dark Horsemen, Summerland, and Radiant Pinnacle, tell the story of the human soul after death: the body expires, and the soul goes on to an apocalyptic judgment. If it is seen that the past life has been a good one, the soul may enter “heaven,” or “Summerland”. After a period of time, the soul may reincarnate to learn additional earthly lessons on the human plane. Some souls reincarnate many times in a constant circular progress toward Godly perfection." Three Visions was composed by Still for his wife, Verna Arvey, who first played the composition in Los Angeles in 1936. The suite is about eleven minutes long.
Blue Steel is a 1934 opera by American composer William Grant Still. Overall, the music assumes a jazz form, harmonically and rhythmically, although at other times, the music merges into the form of a Negro spiritual.
Kaintuck' (Kentucky) is a 1935 symphonic poem for piano and orchestra by American composer William Grant Still.
Highway 1, USA is an American opera in one act with music by William Grant Still and libretto by Verna Arvey. Originally composed during the 1940s with the title A Southern Interlude, the opera received its premiere under its revised and definitive title in 1963.
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