I am going to stick
my neck out. I truly believe that William
Grant Still’s Afro-American Symphony
is one of the finest cross-over pieces
of music ever written. I rate it above
An American in Paris and the
legendary Rhapsody in Blue. And
coming the other way (from ‘classical’
to ‘jazz’) I find it more satisfying
than Igor Stravinsky’s Ebony Concerto
or Darius Milhaud’s Création
du Monde. All four of these works
are high on my list of personal favourites.
I have known them for most of my adult
life and recognise just how good they
are. Yet listening to Still’s Symphony
I feel that I have discovered something
very beautiful, interesting, and attractive;
in fact the adjectives run out. I must
confess that until this CD dropped onto
the doormat, I had never heard it before.
I knew it existed for I have seen the
Chandos recording (CHAN 9154) in the
shop many times. However it never came
my way. I listened to this work twice
– just in case I have been seduced into
thinking it is more enjoyable than it
is. But no – my original contention
remains the same.
A few words about the
composer are not without interest, as
I doubt he is a household name in European
musical circles.
William Grant Still
has a number of claims to fame. His
present symphony was the first written
by an African-American to be performed
by a major symphony orchestra. He was
the first African-American to conduct
a major American orchestra. He was the
first to have an opera performed by
a national company. He was the first
to have an opera performed on television
– albeit posthumously. And his catalogue
of more than 150 works make him a prolific
composer.
The composer was born
of a mixed race union. Irish, Scots,
Negro, Indian and Spanish blood ran
through his veins. His father, who was
the local town bandsman, died when Still
was only three months old. Most of his
early life was spent in Little Rock,
Arkansas. Initially he was destined
to become a doctor but was increasingly
drawn towards music. It was not until
after a period of active service in
the Navy during the First World War
that Still was able to resume his musical
education at Oberlin College. However
he abandoned college and headed for
the ‘Big Apple.’ There he spent time
learning the musical trade – arranging
material for W.C. Handy. He became involved
in the re-awakening of Negro culture
in the ‘Harlem Renaissance’ and soon
became adept in the world of jazz and
popular music. However it was his studies
with two very different but equally
great composers that set him on the
route to becoming the ‘dean’ of American
music. Edgard Varese was an avant-garde
composer well versed in the latest techniques
from Europe. George Whitefield Chadwick
was a conservative composer of great
skill and melodic invention. It is out
of these two teachers that Still forged
his unique style - a synthesis of his
African-American heritage and the prevailing
classical traditions.
The present CD gives
three of William Grant Still’s works.
The Afro-American Symphony has
been recorded and performed a number
of times. At the moment there are at
least five versions available on CD,
including the Chandos recording by Neeme
Järvi. However Naxos has performed
a sterling service by giving us two
première recordings of the In
Memoriam and the Africa (Symphonic
Poem).
The In Memoriam:
The Colored soldiers who died for democracy
(1943) was commissioned by the League
of Composers during the Second World
War with the intention of generating
works with a patriotic theme. The piece
has a strange beauty. We are conscious
of the slow movement of Dvořák’s
New World Symphony. Yet
this work is entirely Still’s own. It
is simple, but in that simplicity there
is great depth. The work is quite restrained
and does not ‘tub thump’ in any way.
Of course there is great irony in the
title of the work. At that time in America
many blacks were denied the political
and social rights and freedoms that
they were laying down their lives in
far-flung places to protect. The Alabama
riots and the flourishing of the Civil
Rights movement were still twenty years
away.
The symphonic poem
Africa is an impressive piece.
It was conceived as a part of a trilogy
of works celebrating the cultural roots
and heritage of African Americans. Still
began composing this work in 1924. It
was originally written for chamber orchestra
but was revised into its present form
in 1930. The background is as a presentation
of Africa as a place imagined as opposed
to described. The programme notes compare
this work to some of Rimsky-Korsakov’s
exotic musical portraits of far-flung
lands. There is no evidence to suggest
that Still actually visited the African
continent. The work, which is almost
symphonic in structure, is in three
contrasting movements. The first explores
the pastoral and spiritual side of the
continent as a Land of Peace.
The second movement, The Land of
Romance, concentrates on the sadness
generated by the longing of slaves for
their homeland. Finally, the last movement
explores the ‘unspoken fears and lurking
terrors’ in the Land of Superstition.
This music is actually
quite difficult to describe. I do not
really like to say that it reminds me
of composers ‘x’ or ‘y’ – but if pushed
I would have to say that Delius (Florida
and Appalachia) was called to
mind on more than one occasion.
There is no doubt that
Still’s masterwork among those few we
have heard is the Symphony No.1 ‘Afro-American’.
This was premièred by the redoubtable
Howard Hanson in 1930 to great critical
acclaim. It quickly established itself
as one of the key works of the era receiving
some thirty-four performances in the
1930s alone. It is best described in
the composer’s own words: ‘I knew I
wanted to write a symphony; I knew it
had to be an American work; and I wanted
to demonstrate how the blues, so often
considered a lowly expression, could
be elevated to the highest musical level.’
And this is certainly the net result
of this work. In many ways it is actually
quite hard to draw a line between the
‘blues’ and the ‘classical’. And of
course this work is a testament to the
skill of the composer in marrying two
contrasting styles of music.
However Still was not
content just to utilise the blues. Each
of the first three movements makes use
of different ‘black’ musical traditions.
The first, subtitled ‘Longing’
is the blues-oriented movement. Dvořák
never seems far away in this nostalgic
music. The second movement, ‘Sorrow,’
utilises the mood of the Negro spiritual.
The heady combination of sorrow and
oppression and confidence that the Lord
will provide salvation is present in
every bar. The third movement, ‘Humor,’
is jazz-based – and not only jazz. Ragtime
makes a brief appearance as does the
first known use of a banjo in the symphonic
literature. Watch out for a tune that
is remarkably like Gershwin’s ‘I
got Rhythm.’ But please note that
this was written some years before the
‘original’! The final movement is a
coming together of various themes and
threads from the preceding movements.
It is entitled ‘Aspiration’.
Here is a new voice speaking a new language
for the American people. Yet the sentiments
were as old as the transportation of
the slaves themselves.
This is a great CD.
The playing impressed me greatly. The
Fort Smith Orchestra under John Jeter
obviously have a great sympathy for
this music. I can only hope that Naxos
will issue a number of Still’s other
works. I would ask them to consider
Levee Land, the 3rd
Symphony (Sunday Symphony) and the
charmingly entitled work – The Little
Song that Wanted to be a Symphony.
John France
Fort Smith Orchestra/John Jeter 
