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American Composer Series #3 - William Grant Still

© Brad Foust

America has produced composers from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds, and William Grant Still (1895-1978) is considered by many to be the 'Dean of African-American Composers.'

Still was born in Woodville, Mississippi to two successful teachers. His father died when he was only three months old, but his mother remarried a few years later, and her husband was a lover of music and literature. It is from his stepfather that Still learned to also love music, and this influence would prove to shape the course of his life.

Still was a bright student, and was the valedictorian of his 1911 high school class. When his mother suggested that he attend Wilberforce College in Ohio to pursue a career in medicine, he agreed. However, the urge to perform and compose music proved to be too great, and he left Wilberforce in 1916 to arrange music for W.C. Handy. During his stint with Handy, he also studied at Oberlin College.

The 1920's found Still involved in all aspects of musical life. He settled in New York, where he played in pit orchestras for musicals and dance productions. In 1922, he also began studying composition with George Whitfield Chadwick, and in 1923 with Edgard Varese. During this time, Still was composing, and the first large-scale piece to be recognized was the 'Afro-American Symphony' (1931), which is still his best-known work. Still went on to compose such pieces as the ballet 'Lenox Avenue' (1936), 'And They Lynched Him on a Tree' (1940), 'A Bayou Legend' (1940), and the opera 'Troubled Island' (1941), which dealt with the slave rebellion in Haiti.

Still continued to compose into the 1950s, turning his attention toward music for children, writing such pieces as 'The Little Song That Wanted to Be a Symphony' (1954), 'The Little Red Schoolhouse' (1957), and 'The American Scene' (1957), a set of five pieces based on different regions of the country. Still also composed music for film and television during this time.

Still won many accolades and honors during his lifetime, including degrees from Oberlin, Wilberforce, Howard and Bates College, and a long list of awards and fellowships. He also attempted an impressive list of firsts, such as:

· The first African American to conduct a major American orchestra (1936) · The first African American to have a composition played by a major American orchestra (Afro-American Symphony, 1931) · The first African American to have an opera (Troubled Island, 1949) performed by a major American Orchestra