William Grant Still Symphony No. 1 (Afro-American)
Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Järvi, Conductor
Chandos 9154 (1993)
Those who were tuned in to Bill McGlaughlin's
fourth program of his current Black, Brown and Beige series on National
Public Radio were treated to one of our landmark masterworks: William Grant
Still's Afro-American symphony. It is unfortunately quite possible that
many of his faithful followers heard this for the first time. If so, they were
in the same situation as those students enrolled in my final class, which
concluded fifty-two years of university teaching. For the past twenty-nine
years, I had offered at least one semester on the history of Black music. This
was initiated with a consideration of general characteristics of the music,
including various uses of the blues -- and that included a sampling of the
first movement of this symphony by Still. At our very next meeting, the
students entered the classroom obviously irritated. They did not hesitate in
letting me know the reason: They felt angry because, thus far in their music
studies, they had never previously heard this work. It was so characteristic
of Lawrence University students. I had not assigned or even suggested that they
listen to the entire work after that introduction, but this is exactly what
they did that initial evening. This initiative alerted me that this was going
to be a highly motivated and receptive group, and it was a wonderful honor to
end my teaching career with that audience. Every course they took had some
effect on their personal or professional lives. One went immediately to Arizona
and began teaching steel bands, one went to Sénégal on research and study, and
another moved to Japan to develop new audiences for American music. To an
extent, they helped me reach the goal of all teachers: obsolescence.
I'd hope Bill McGlauglin's listeners were similarly
stimulated, if their concert going and record collection had sidestepped this
work. If that were not enough, he also included R. Nathaniel Dett's piano
suite, In the bottoms, performed by the late and much loved Natalie
Hinderas, a friend of his from his Temple University days. The last movement
of that work is the Juba dance, which was a targeted piece for the
repertoire of almost any Black pianist of the past. When I saw it was out of
print, I encouraged the publisher to reissue it. They did more than that --
they reprinted all of Dett's piano suites. Natalie included at least the Juba
on many of her tours, and it finally made it to CD from LP in the company
of other works of Black composers she so ardently supported. I found it
fascinating to learn that the composer-pianist George Walker was present for
her Oberlin performance when she was a child prodigy. (The radio program
included one error: Dett did not study at Harvard.)
The Afro-American symphony will very
soon be on line, in a performance by the Lawrence University Symphony
Orchestra, conducted by Dr. Kevin Moss. Now all students on this Wisconsin
campus will have an advantage those ten years ago lacked.
Ending just over a half-century of teaching
was tough. I closed that final meeting with Darryl Taylor's singing Leslie
Adam's touchingly nostalgic Sence [sic] you went away. In my
dreams, I am back in class, blessed with students I have known, introducing
them to our precious heritage.
------------------------------------
Dominique-René
de Lerma
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