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The University High School Band
The History and Theory of Music

William Grant Still

1895 - 1978 AD

Like many composers of the early-to-mid twentieth-century, William Grant Still drew upon his own heritage of folk music to incorporate new styles into the orchestra repertoire. He showed musical talent from an early age, studying formally at Wilberforce College, and privately with professors at the New England Conservatory and Oberlin College.

Still rose to prominence with this "Afro-American Symphony," written in 1930, which became the first composition by an African American composer to be performed by a major orchestra. He also became the first African American to conduct a major orchestra in 1936.

His 1943 composition Suite for Violin and Piano was inspired by three pieces of African American sculpture. The first movement captures the motion of Richmond Barthé's "African Dancer." The second is evocative of the hardship conveyed in "Mother and Child," a miniminalist work by Sargent Johnson. The final movement, "Gamin," based on a bust by Augusta Savage, completes the suite with a traditional fast-slow-fast structure.

African Dancer by Richmond Barthé
Mother and Child by Sargent Johnson
Gamin by Augusta Savage

His piece "Ennanga" uses an orchestral harp to emulate the techniques of a traditional Ugandan rope harp.

Compositions

Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American," Movement I (1930)

Suite for Violin and Piano (1943)

Suite for Violin and Piano (1943)

Suite for Violin and Piano (1943)

Ennanga (1953)

Open-Ended Question

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