William Grant Still Jr. was an American composer who composed nearly 200 worksIt includes five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, more than 30 choral works, as well as art songs, chamber music and solo instrumental works. In 1982, he was posthumously awarded the Mississippi Academy of Arts and Letters Award for his composition of the music for the opera “Baymouth Chronicles.”
He was the first African American composer to have a symphony performed by a professional American orchestra, Symphony No. 1. 1 The American Negro (1930). It was premiered by Howard Hanson and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. William Grant Still’s career took off in the 1920s as he became associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
William Grant still quotes music, life and friends.
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This is unfortunate for a person of color ambitious to live in America. William Grant Steele
I have no illusions about the triviality of blues, the secular folk music of black America. William Grant Steele
I believe the use of blues idiom themes to weld it together is absolutely unique in this type of work. It turns out that its interest in rhythm should be as important as its interest in melody. William Grant Steele
To me, there’s no white music or black music – there’s only individual music, and if it’s trying to dignify all people, not just one particular race, then that’s what’s important. William Grant Steele
I have what I think is a good script. A better judgment can be made after being checked by a professional lyricist. William Grant Steele
To me, there’s no white music or black music – there’s only individual music, and if it’s trying to dignify all people, not just one particular race, then that’s what’s important. William Grant Steele
I was lucky enough to be a part of the jazz world at a young age, when jazz itself was still very new. William Grant Steele
This was New England’s gift to freed blacks: not charity, but friends; not money, but character. William Grant Steele
I don’t know what people mean by “black music.” Are they saying black people can only make music a certain way? William Grant Steele
When I began my career as a serious composer in New York, the prevailing feeling was that all of us who were there were contributing to something unique and decidedly American. William Grant Steele
There is no doubt that the word “jazz” is of French origin, as both it and the eccentric styles to which it is applied were introduced to the northern United States by Creole musicians. William Grant Steele
In my opinion, the music of African Americans is the result of the combination of the religious songs you mentioned and the original African songs. William Grant Steele
It was my mother who insisted that I practice regularly. William Grant Steele
This was New England’s gift to freed blacks: not charity, but friends; not money, but character. William Grant Steele
For a long time I have wanted to lend my voice to those who are now protesting lynchings. William Grant Steele
More than anyone else, (Chadwick) inspired me to make American music. William Grant Steele
I’m currently working on the score for La Guiablesse. The scene is based on a Martinique legend. William Grant Steele
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