Composer, born in Woodville, Mississippi, USA. He studied medicine, switching to the study of composition at the Oberlin Conservatory. He worked as an arranger of popular music, and played in theatre and night-club orchestras while studying under Varèse. His music includes five operas, four symphonies, three ballets, chamber and choral music, and orchestral pieces. Known especially for his Afro-American Symphony (1931), he became the first African-American conductor of a professional symphony orchestra in the USA.
William Grant Still (May 11, 1895 - December 3, 1978) was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. He was the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony of his own (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 national television.
Life and career
William Grant Still was born in Woodville, Mississippi. They were of mixed origin: African-American, Native American, Spanish and Anglo (Scotch-Irish).
He then attended Wilberforce University, founded as an African-American school, in Ohio. He also studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music on scholarship.
Still initially composed in the modernist style but later merged musical aspects of his African-American heritage with traditional European classical forms to form a unique style. 1 was performed by the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, making him the first African-American composer to receive such attention. In 1936 Still conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and became the first African-American to conduct a major American Orchestra. In 1949 his opera Troubled Island was performed by the New York City Opera and became the first opera by an African-American to be performed by a major company. In 1955 he conducted the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra and became the first African-American to conduct a major orchestra in the Deep South. Still's works were also performed by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the BBC Orchestra. He was the first African-American to have an opera performed on national television.
In the 1930s Still worked as an arranger of popular music, writing for Willard Robison's "Deep River Hour," and Paul Whiteman's "Old Gold Show," both popular NBC Radio broadcasts.
Still eventually moved to Los Angeles, California, where he arranged music for films. For Lost Horizon he arranged the music of Dimitri Tiomkin. Still was also hired to arrange the music for the film Stormy Weather but left the assignment after a few weeks due to artistic disagreements.
William Grant Still received two Guggenheim Fellowships. He also was awarded honorary doctorates from Oberlin College, Wilberforce University, Howard University, Bates College, the University of Arkansas, Pepperdine University, the New England Conservatory of Music, the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and the University of Southern California.
Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American"
The piece of music for which Still is best remembered today is his Symphony No. It combines themes from blues music with a symphonic dimension and meticulous orchestration. 1 "Afro-American" (1930) Africa (1930) Lenox Avenue (1937) Seven Traceries (1939) "And They Lynched him on a Tree" (1940) Troubled Island Opera, produced 1949 (1937-39) In Memoriam: The Colored Soldiers Who Died for Democracy (1943) Suite for Violin & Piano, including the movement later arranged for String Orchestra as Mother and Child (1943) Danzas de Panama (Dances of Panama) Made up of three movements (1953) The Little Song That Wanted to Be a Symphony (1954) Little Red Schoolhouse (1957) The American Scene (1957)
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