Composer: William Grant Still
Orchestra: Fort Smith Symphony
Conductor: John Jeter
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Naxos
Release: 2012
Size: 1.05 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Wood Notes
01. I. Singing River: Moderately slow
02. II. Autumn Night: Lightly
03. III. Moon Dusk: Slowly and expressively
04. IV. Whippoorwill’s Shoes: Humorously
Symphony No. 2 in G minor ‘Song of a New Race’
05. I. Slowly
06. II. Slowly and deeply expressive
07. III. Moderately fast
08. IV. Moderately slow
Symphony No. 3, “The Sunday Symphony”
09. I. The Awakening: Moderately fast
10. II. Prayer: Very Slowly
11. III. Relaxation: Gaily
12. IV. Day’s End and a New Beginning: Resolutely
Recorded: 17-18 April 2011
Recording Venue: Arkansas Best Corporation Performing Arts Center, Fort Smith, Arkansas, USA
The life and career of the African-American composer William Grant Still qualifies as the quintessential American ‘success story.’ Often referred to as the ‘dean of African-American composers,’ Still rose from humble beginnings to work as an arranger while studying composition with Chadwick and Varèse. Still embraced the blues, spirituals, jazz, and other ethnic American musics within classical forms. Wood Notes musically depicts Still’s love of nature. Symphony No. 2, the last of a trilogy of works depicting the African-American experience, presents the vision of an integrated American society, while Symphony No. 3 describes a spiritual ‘day in the life’ of a devout worshipper. This disc completes the Naxos cycle of William Grant Still’s Symphonies.