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

On October 29th, 1931, The Rochester Philharmonic 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 piece 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. At
the time of its premiere and afterwards, it was quite a success,
and until 1950, it was THE most performed symphony written by an
American composer. After 1950, the symphony practically
disappeared from concert stages, but due to the explosion of
interest in Black American composers of the past and present,
this brilliant symphony is making its way back into the
repertoire of orchestras 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'm also
joined today by the great writer and linguist John McWhorter, who
discusses the 4 Paul Laurence Dunbar poems Grant Still added to
each movement as epigraphs, as well as their cultural context.
Join us!