Naxos 8.559676 (2011) is the most recent recording of Still's Symphony No. 2. The Fort Smith Symphony is led by John Jeter, Conductor.
YouTube: William Grant Still's Symphony No. 2 in G minor, Song of A New Race (8:23)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uaHe5hvWu6w
Classical 101
John Rittmeyer
For this Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we are featuring William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 2 in G minor, Song of a New Race on Symphony @ 7. It dates from 1937, seven years after his [Symphony No. 1, Afro-American], which won him widespread recognition.
The composer said of his second symphony, “the Afro-American Symphony represented the Negro of days not far removed from the Civil War. The Symphony in G minor represents the American colored man of today, in so many instances a totally new individual….”
Still, who has been called “the dean” of African-American composers,
was born in Mississippi in 1895, grew up in Little Rock Arkansas, and
lived in Ohio for a time. He graduated from Wilberforce University, one
of Ohio’s two historically black colleges, and was awarded a scholarship
at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He eventually moved to Los
Angeles, California, where Still had a distinguished career in music,
and died in 1978.
...
We’ll conclude with an African-American artist who has an Ohio
connection, soprano Kathleen Battle, from Portsmouth, singing a
traditional spiritual with Jessye Norman. I hope you can join me this evening on Classical 101 for this hour of music honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
[William
Grant Still (1895-1978) is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which
features a comprehensive Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de
Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com
Recordings, sheet music and books of William Grant Still are
available at www.WilliamGrantStill.com,
which is operated by the composer's daughter Judith Anne Still]
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