William Grant Still Symphony No. 1, "Afro-American"

Fundraiser link here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1026719635067?aff=oddtdtcreator


On October 29th, 1931, The Rochester Philharmonic in New York
State presented the world premiere of a new symphony by the
composer William Grant Still. A symphonic premiere is always
something to look out for in musical history, but this one had an
even greater significance. The premiere of Wiliam Grant Still’s
First Symphony, subtitled  “Afro American,” was the first
time a symphony written by a Black American composer was
performed by a leading orchestra. William Grant Still was a man
of many firsts, whether he was the first Black American conductor
to conduct a major orchestra, the first to have an opera
performed by a major company, the first Black American to conduct
an orchestra in the South of the United States, and much more.
Today we’re going to focus in on Grant Still’s first symphony, a
symphony that Grant Still had long thought about, conceptualized,
and dreamed of. It was also a symphony wrapped up in the roiling
currents of Black America at the time, with the Harlem
Renaissance in full swing and Alain Locke’s tract The New Negro
sparking discussion and debate all over the country. It was a
symphony that attempted to do something no one had ever done
before; that is, to marry together the genre of the Blues with
that of symphonic music. Until 1950, it was THE most performed
symphony written by an American composer. But until 10 or 15
years ago, it had all but disappeared from the stage, but due to
the explosion of interest in Black American composers of the past
and present, this brilliant symphony is making its way back onto
stages all over the world. The way that Grant Still constructed
this meeting of two genres of music was ingenious and innovative
from start to finish, and so today on the show we’ll explore all
of the historical context of the symphony, what Grant Still was
trying to do with his monumental new endeavor, and of course, all
of the music itself. I want to thank John McWhorter for his
brilliant contributions to this episode, as well as the Aalborg
Symphony for embarking on a fantastic recording of the symphony,
which you will hear throughout this episode.