Post by erik on Dec 26, 2020 18:21:26 GMT -5
The final Classical Works Spotlight of this pandemic-ridden year of 2020 will be about a great African-American composer's best-known contribution to the American music lexicon.
William Levi Dawson: NEGRO FOLK SYMPHONY
While African-Americans have been making an impact on the music of America since at least the late 19th century, it has only been since the early 1970’s that their works have really taken hold in America’s concert halls; and as with so much of American culture, it has always been because of the European influence, and a hint of the invariable specter of racism. Nevertheless, the first few decades of the 20th century saw a growth of African-American composers who managed to get their works performed by major American orchestras. One of those composers was William Levi Dawson. Born in 1899, Dawson actually ran away to the Tuskegee Institute in 1913,not only singing in the institute’s choir, but also even playing trombone in the college’s band. It was in 1927, when he was receiving his degree from the American Conservatory of Music, that Dawson created what became his Negro Folk Symphony. While on tour with the Tuskegee choir in New York, he showed the manuscript of his symphony to no less than Leopold Stokowski, who was significantly impressed to encourage Dawson to expand it a bit. As stated by the composer, the Negro Folk Symphony is entirely based on folk songs from the African-American community; and it is structured in three movements: (1) The Bond Of Africa; (2) Hope In The Night; and (3) O, Le’ Me Shine, Shine Like A Morning Star. Stokowski premiered the Negro Folk Symphony in 1934 with the Philadelphia Orchestra to extreme acclaim. Dawson later integrated authentic African rhythmic patterns into the work’s revision following a trip to West Africa in 1952; and it is in this form that it is performed by orchestras now. Along with William Grant Still, Dawson is now acknowledged as having been as important to the growth of American classical music in the 20th century as giants like Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, both of whom championed the Negro influence in music.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra/NEEME JARVI (Chandos)
Included:
William Grant Still: SYMPHONY NO. 2 IN G MINOR (SONG OF A NEW RACE)
Duke Ellington: HARLEM
William Levi Dawson: NEGRO FOLK SYMPHONY
While African-Americans have been making an impact on the music of America since at least the late 19th century, it has only been since the early 1970’s that their works have really taken hold in America’s concert halls; and as with so much of American culture, it has always been because of the European influence, and a hint of the invariable specter of racism. Nevertheless, the first few decades of the 20th century saw a growth of African-American composers who managed to get their works performed by major American orchestras. One of those composers was William Levi Dawson. Born in 1899, Dawson actually ran away to the Tuskegee Institute in 1913,not only singing in the institute’s choir, but also even playing trombone in the college’s band. It was in 1927, when he was receiving his degree from the American Conservatory of Music, that Dawson created what became his Negro Folk Symphony. While on tour with the Tuskegee choir in New York, he showed the manuscript of his symphony to no less than Leopold Stokowski, who was significantly impressed to encourage Dawson to expand it a bit. As stated by the composer, the Negro Folk Symphony is entirely based on folk songs from the African-American community; and it is structured in three movements: (1) The Bond Of Africa; (2) Hope In The Night; and (3) O, Le’ Me Shine, Shine Like A Morning Star. Stokowski premiered the Negro Folk Symphony in 1934 with the Philadelphia Orchestra to extreme acclaim. Dawson later integrated authentic African rhythmic patterns into the work’s revision following a trip to West Africa in 1952; and it is in this form that it is performed by orchestras now. Along with William Grant Still, Dawson is now acknowledged as having been as important to the growth of American classical music in the 20th century as giants like Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein, both of whom championed the Negro influence in music.
Detroit Symphony Orchestra/NEEME JARVI (Chandos)
Included:
William Grant Still: SYMPHONY NO. 2 IN G MINOR (SONG OF A NEW RACE)
Duke Ellington: HARLEM