William Grant Still
1895 - 1978
American
Biography
William Grant Still was an American composer of nearly 200 works, including five symphonies and nine operas. Born in Mississippi, he grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and was a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and later Edgard Varèse.
In 1918 Still joined the United States Navy to serve in World War I. After the war he went to Harlem, where he was involved with cultural figures of the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, Arna Bontemps, and Countee Cullen.
He recorded with Fletcher Henderson's Dance Orchestra in 1921, and later played in the pit orchestra for Noble Sissle and Eubie Blake's musical, Shuffle Along and in other pit orchestras for Sophie Tucker, Artie Shaw, and Paul Whiteman. In the 1930s Still worked as an arranger of popular music, writing for Willard Robison's "Deep River Hour" and Paul Whiteman's "Old Gold Show" on NBC Radio.
His first major orchestral composition, Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American," was performed in 1931 by the Rochester Philharmonic, conducted by Howard Hanson. It was the first time the complete score of a work by an African American was performed by a major orchestra. By the end of World War II the piece had been performed in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, and London. Until 1950 the symphony was the most popular of any composed by an American. Still developed a close professional relationship with Hanson; many of Still's compositions were performed for the first time in Rochester.
In 1934 Still moved to Los Angeles. He received his first Guggenheim Fellowship and started work on the first of his eight operas, Blue Steel. In 1936, Still conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl; he was the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra in a performance of his own works. In 1949 he became the first American composer to have an opera premiered by the New York City Opera (Troubled Island).
News
- Composers from the African Diaspora
- 17th June 2024
- Wise Music Classical is pleased to present a selection of works by composers from the African Diaspora. This resource is meant to cultivate discovery, and to establish a new canon that embodies a fuller scope of our...
Performances
6th February 2025
- PERFORMERS
- HR-Sinfonieorchester
- CONDUCTOR
- Riccardo Minasi
- LOCATION
- Alte Oper, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
7th February 2025
- PERFORMERS
- HR-Sinfonieorchester
- CONDUCTOR
- Riccardo Minasi
- LOCATION
- Alte Oper, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
8th February 2025
- PERFORMERS
- 11-12 Symphony Orchestra
- CONDUCTOR
- Peter Askim
- LOCATION
- Park Vista Hotel Conference Room, Gatlinburg, TN, United States of America
12th February 2025
- PERFORMERS
- Jacobs School of Music Indiana University
- CONDUCTOR
- Anthony Parnther
- LOCATION
- Musical Arts Center, Bloomington, IN, United States of America
12th February 2025
- PERFORMERS
- University of the Pacific Symphony Orchestra
- CONDUCTOR
- Michael Alexander
- LOCATION
- Faye Spanos Concert Hall, Stockton, CA, United States of America
Features
- American Symphonies from Ives to Zwilich
- G. Schirmer & Associated Music Publishers is pleased to announce that a digital download of our critical edition to Charles Ives' Symphony No. 4 is now for sale by Classical On Demand.
Discography
- LabelLinn
- Catalogue NumberCKD 699
- ConductorKellen Gray
- EnsembleRoyal Scottish National Orchestra
- Works
- LabelChandos
- ConductorNeeme Järvi
- EnsembleDetroit Symphony Orchestra
- Works
- LabelNaxos
- Catalogue Number8.559174
- ConductorJohn Jeter
- EnsembleFort Smith Symphony
- Works