Still was the first American composer to have an opera produced by theNew York City Opera.[5] He is known primarily for his first symphony,Afro-American Symphony (1930),[6] which, until 1950,[further explanation needed] was the most widely performed symphony composed by an American.[7] Still often is referred to as the "Dean of Afro-American Composers". He was able to become a leading figure in the field of American classical music as the first African-American to conduct a major Americansymphony orchestra, have a symphony performed by a leading orchestra, have an opera performed by a major opera company, and have an opera performed on national television.[8] The papers of Still and his second wife, the librettist and writerVerna Arvey, are currently held by the University of Arkansas.[9]
William Grant Still Jr. was born on May 11, 1895, inWoodville, Mississippi.[1]: 15 He was the son of two teachers,Carrie Lena Fambro Still Shepperson (1872–1927)[10][11] and William Grant Still Sr.[1]: 5 (1871–1895). His father was a partner in a grocery store and performed as a local bandleader.[1]: 5 William Grant Still Sr. died when his infant son was three months old.[1]: 5
Still's mother and he moved toLittle Rock, Arkansas, where she taught high school English.[1]: 6 In 1904,[10] She met and married Charles B. Shepperson, who nurtured the musical interests of his stepson William by taking him to operettas and buyingRed Seal recordings of classical music that the boy greatly enjoyed.[1]: 6 The two also attended a number of performances by musicians on tour.[12] His maternal grandmother, Anne Fambro,[10] sang African-Americanspirituals to him.[13]: 6, 12
Still showed a great interest in music and started violin lessons in Little Rock at the age of 15. He taught himself to play theclarinet, saxophone,oboe, double bass, cello, andviola.[14] At 16 years old, he was graduated as class valedictorian fromM. W. Gibbs High School in Little Rock in 1911.[13]: 3
His mother wanted him to go to medical school, so Still pursued a bachelor of science degree program atWilberforce University, ahistorically black college in Ohio.[15] Still became a member ofKappa Alpha Psi fraternity. He conducted the university band, learned to play various instruments, and started to compose and to perform orchestrations. He left Wilberforce without graduation.[1]: 7
Using a small amount of money left to him by his father, he began studying at theOberlin Conservatory of Music.[3] Still worked for the school assisting the janitor and at a few small jobs outside of the school, but struggled financially.[3] When Professor Lehmann asked him why he wasn't studying composition, Still replied that he simply couldn't afford to. When this became known, George Whitfield Andrews[16] taught composition to Still, without charge.[3] He also was able to study privately with the modern French composerEdgard Varèse and the American composerGeorge Whitefield Chadwick.[4]: 249 [10]
2012 photograph of the historically designated, William Grant Still Residence, South Victoria Avenue in Los Angeles, California
On October 4, 1915,[10] Still married Grace Bundy, whom he had met while they were both at Wilberforce.[1]: 1, 7 They had a son, William III, and three daughters, Gail, June, and Caroline.[10] They separated in 1932 and divorced February 6, 1939.[10]
Still had moved to Los Angeles after receiving his first fellowship in 1934.[17]
On February 8, 1939, he married pianistVerna Arvey. They drove toTijuana for the ceremony because at the time, 'interracial' marriage was illegal in California.[1]: 2 [10] They had two children, a daughter, Judith Anne, and a son, Duncan.[1]: 2 [10]Celeste Headlee, a broadcastjournalist, an author, a classically trained soprano, and daughter to Judith Anne, is Still'sgranddaughter.
On December 1, 1976, Still's home at 1262 Victoria Avenue inOxford Square, Los Angeles was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #169.[18]
In 1916, Still worked in Memphis forW.C. Handy's band.[10] He then joined the United States Navy to serve in World War I in 1918, and eventually moved toHarlem after the war, where he continued to work for Handy.[10] During this time, Still was involved with many cultural figures of the Harlem Renaissance including the likes ofLangston Hughes,Alain Locke,Arna Bontemps, andCountee Cullen.[9]
In the 1930s, Still worked as an arranger of popular music, composing works for popularNBC Radio broadcasts such asWillard Robison'sDeep River Hour and Paul Whiteman'sOld Gold Show.[20]
Still's first major orchestral composition,Symphony No. 1 "Afro-American", was performed in 1931 by theRochester Philharmonic, conducted byHoward Hanson.[10] It was the first time the complete score of a work by an African American was performed by a major orchestra.[10] By the end of World War II, the piece had been performed in orchestras located in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berlin, Paris, and London.[10] The symphony was arguably the most popular of any composed by an American to that time.[23] As a result of his close professional relationship with Hanson, many of Still's compositions were performed for the first time in Rochester.[10]
In 1934, Still moved to Los Angeles after receiving his firstGuggenheim Fellowship,[17] allowing him to start work on the first of his nine operas,Blue Steel.[24] Two years later, Still conducted theLos Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl, the first African American to conduct a major American orchestra in a performance of his own works.[25][20]
For the1939 New York World's Fair, Still composedSong of a City for the exhibit "Democracity,"[26] which played continuously during the fair's run.[26] Despite writing music for the fair, he was unable to attend the fair without police protection except on "Negro Day".[27]
A decade after its original composition, his operaTroubled Island aboutJean-Jacques Dessalines and Haiti, was performed in 1949 by theNew York City Opera.[10] It is the first opera by an American to be performed by the company.[28] It also is the first opera by an African American to be performed by a major company.[25] Still was, however, upset by the negative reviews it received.[10]
Still was the first African American to conduct a major orchestra in theDeep South, doing so in 1955, where he conducted the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra.[25]
He died in Los Angeles in 1978. Three years after his death,A Bayou Legend became the first opera by an African-American composer to be performed on national television.[30]
Still composed almost 200 works, including nine operas,[38]: 200 five symphonies,[38]: 200 four ballets,[39] plus art songs, chamber music, and works for solo instruments.[10] He composed more than thirty choral works.[20] Many of his works are believed to be lost.[10]: 278
^abMurchison, Gayle (1994). ""Dean of Afro-American Composers" or "Harlem Renaissance Man": "The New Negro" and the Musical Poetics of William Grant Still".The Arkansas Historical Quarterly.53 (1):42–74.doi:10.2307/40030871.ISSN0004-1823.JSTOR40030871.
