Friday, May 29, 2020

John Malveaux: Among the top American contributors to classical music is George Theophilus Walker, who received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for LILACS

Albany Records

John Malveaux of MusicUNTOLD.com writes:


The origin of classical music is Europe but deceased and living American composers have made significant contributions within the art form. Among the top American contributors is Pianist, Educator, and Composer George Theophilus Walker. George Walker received  the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for LILACS. However, with few exceptions, his extensive compositional output has been neglected or relegated to African American Heritage Month. 

The seldom performances of George Walker's music on concert stages and sparse programming on classical radio stations can not be justified on qualitative standards consistent with composers receiving frequent concert performances and daily radio programming. Please see bio  https://chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Walker.html.  Also note George Walker lived and composed to age 96 and the bio does not cover his latter years. MusicUNTOLD Audio Library will speak to those significant years in a future blog. Please listen to 1st of three movements - CONCERTO for TROMBONE and ORCHESTRA: 1. Allegro which premiered in 1957 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kji2FPUxcFc

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