William Grant Still's name is usually paired with the sobriquet "dean of African American composers." His Afro-American Symphony was composed in 1931, a year in which classical music by African Americans was close to its high-water mark. The work was said by the composer to be rooted in the blues idiom, but various influences percolate through the score, nicely integrated. There are hints of Gershwin's Summertime and I Got Rhythm in the subsidiary themes, and, given the timing, it is interesting to speculate as to who might ...
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William Grant Still's name is usually paired with the sobriquet "dean of African American composers." His Afro-American Symphony was composed in 1931, a year in which classical music by African Americans was close to its high-water mark. The work was said by the composer to be rooted in the blues idiom, but various influences percolate through the score, nicely integrated. There are hints of Gershwin's Summertime and I Got Rhythm in the subsidiary themes, and, given the timing, it is interesting to speculate as to who might have influenced whom. The symphony is rhythmically vibrant, and the Cincinnati Philharmonia Orchestra under Jindong Cai doesn't seem entirely comfortable with its loose-limbed mood (a banjo appears at one point), nor with the deep sadness of the Adagio movement. The virtue of this recording, however, lies in the presence of lesser-known music by Still, who had a long and still largely undiscovered career. Two other works from the 1930s are included. Kaintuck, "a poem for piano and...
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