Symphony No. 4, also known as Symphony No. 4"Autochthonous", is a 1947 composition in four movements by American composer William Grant Still. [1] The work was first performed on March 18, 1951, by the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra conducted by Victor Alessandro. The symphony is about twenty-six minutes long.
Symphony No. 4 is intended to represent the spirit of the American people, and has its roots in the soil of America itself, rather than referring to aboriginal or indigenous sources. Still described the movements of the work in this way: "1. Moderately: The spirit of optimism and energy: the American ability to ‘get things done’ 2. Slowly: pensive, then later in the second subject, animated in a folky way 3. With a graceful lilt: humorous and unmistakably typical of our country and its rhythms 4. Slowly and reverently: the warmth and the spiritual side of the American people, their love of mankind." The music suggests the mixing of musical cultures in North America. [2] Judith Still, the composer's daughter, explained that "[the symphony] is praise for people who came ‘from the soil,’ abused and enslaved, and recognizes the power of those who had been so mightily put upon when they triumphed with honor over a difficult past. Out of the soil of oppression and forced degradation they rose up and acquitted themselves, bringing along their unique songs, humor, and distinctive, vibrant culture.” According to reviewer Douglas Shale, "an African American musical identity springs to the fore within the context of a broader, more complex American cultural fabric". [2]
The symphony is in four movements as follows:
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning common today: a work usually consisting of multiple distinct sections or movements, often four, with the first movement in sonata form. Symphonies are almost always scored for an orchestra consisting of a string section, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments which altogether number about 30 to 100 musicians. Symphonies are notated in a musical score, which contains all the instrument parts. Orchestral musicians play from parts which contain just the notated music for their own instrument. Some symphonies also contain vocal parts.
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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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Afro-American Symphony, also known as Symphony No. 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. It was premiered in 1931 by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and later published in 1935. It is a symphonic piece for full orchestra, including celeste, harp, and tenor banjo. It combines a fairly traditional symphonic form with blues progressions and rhythms that were characteristic of popular African-American music at the time. This combination expressed Still's integration of black culture into the classical forms. Still used quotes from four poems by early 20th-century African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar as epigraphs for each symphonic movement. The symphony is about twenty-four minutes long.
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A Symphony of Three Orchestras is an orchestra composition by the American composer Elliott Carter. The work was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. It was composed from June through December 1976 and was first performed in New York City on February 17, 1977 by the New York Philharmonic under the conductor Pierre Boulez. The composition is dedicated to Boulez and the New York Philharmonic.
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. 2 in G minor, also known as Symphony No. 2"Song of a New Race", is a 1937 composition in four movements by American composer William Grant Still. The work was first performed on December 10, 1937, by the Philadelphia Orchestra led by conductor Leopold Stokowski. The symphony is about thirty 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.
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.
Kaintuck' (Kentucky) is a 1935 symphonic poem for piano and orchestra by American composer William Grant Still.
| Operas (9) |
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| Ballets (4) |
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| Symphonies (5) |
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| Chamber music |
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| Piano music |
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