William Grant Still: Black Lives Matter in Classical Music
By Marielle Murphy, Sopranos Without Borders
William Grant Still, often referred to as the “Dean of Black composers,” was the first American composer to have an opera, Troubled Island, produced and premiered by New York City Opera. He was additionally the first Black composer to have a symphony debuted by an American orchestra: the Symphony №1 “Afro-American,” performed by Howard Hanson and the Rochester Philharmonic. Until 1950, this was the most widely-performed symphony written by an American, period. He is, arguably, the “first” of nearly every distinction amongst Black musicians in classical music composition and conducting.
Born in Woodville, Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, the composer learned the violin at age 14, subsequently teaching himself a number of instruments, notably the cello and oboe. Nurtured by his stepfather, he grew up attending operetta performances and often listened to Red Seal classical records. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor served as an early inspiration, motivating Still to set his sights on a career in composition.
In 1911, he was admitted to the Wilberforce University in Ohio — incidentally, the first private university owned and operated by members of the Black community. He gained experience in conducting by working with the band, arranging, and composing. Upon graduation, Still worked as a freelance musician and arranger for many of the top bands in his area. His first published arrangement was for none other than W.C. Handy, the “Father of Blues,” beginning a long and prolific career in popular and film music. He was determined to ascend as a serious classical composer, briefly attending Oberlin College and New England Conservatory, also studying privately with Edgar Varèse, his most influential teacher and mentor.
Still enlisted in the Navy in 1918 during WWI. Upon his discharge, he settled in Harlem where he continued his partnership with W.C. Handy. He also collaborated regularly with legends such as Langston Hughes and Alain Locke. He is considered a vital part of the Harlem Renaissance.
In 1934, Still relocated to Los Angeles where he received his first Guggenheim Fellowship. It was there that he began writing his first opera, Blue Steel. In 1936, he made his debut at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, becoming the first Black musician to ever conduct their own work with a major symphony orchestra. He continued to break the glass ceiling, conducting the New Orleans Philharmonic in 1955, completely unprecedented in the Deep South.
Still’s operatic breakthrough came in 1949 with Troubled Island, premiered by New York City Opera. Composed as a large-scale work, it chronicled the onset of the Haitian revolution in 1791. Langston Hughes was the work’s original librettist, but he later left the project to cover the Spanish Civil War for the Baltimore Afro-American. So, Verna Arvey, a pianist and writer, finished the libretto. As a result of their close collaboration, she eventually also became Still’s second wife. In fact, Still and Arvey were forced to travel to Tiajuana for their wedding, since Arvey was white and interracial marriage was illegal in California at the time.
The principal roles were premiered by white singers, Robert Weede and Marie Powers, in black face. Fortunately, Black baritone Lawrence Winters took over Weede’s role from the second performance on, correcting one glaring mistake. Sadly, this otherwise triumphant and historical debut was panned by critics, as they conspired to blacklist Still. These reviewers wielded their influence to sabotage Still’s meteoric rise in classical music.
Still’s music, similarly to that of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, borrowed influence from jazz, blues, and the Negro Spiritual, interlacing it with the post-romantic style of the time. Still invented a signature sound, a feat for any composer in any era. In 1976, Still’s home was designated a Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument.
The innate brilliance and excellence of William Grant Still could not be quashed. He earned some of music’s greatest accolades and was recognized in his time for his innumerable contributions to classical music. But yet, somehow his name is excluded from the main-stream American cultural lexicon for classical composers, and his works are not well-known among American households. Yet he set the stage for twentieth century symphonic music. Taking up the mantle of Samuel Coleridge Taylor, he inspired countless musicians of every color and creed to create.
This article was written for the series “Black Lives Matter in Classical Music” in conjunction with Sopranos Without Borders™.
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