Symphony No.4 ''Autochthonous'' - William Grant Still
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 มิ.ย. 2024
- Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Jeter.
I - Moderately fast: 0:00
II - Slowly - Faster - Tempo I: 6:11
III - Moderately fast: 13:08
IV - Slowly and reverently - With increasing fervor - Tempo I - With increasing fervor - Tempo I: 16:12
Still's Symphony No.4 was composed in 1947 in Los Angeles, California. It was actually the third in order of composition, being premiered on March 18 of 1951, performed by the Oklahoma City Symphony Orchestra conducted by Victor Alessandro.It is dedicated to one of the composer’s early teachers, Maurice Kessler of Oberlin.
Still remarked: "As the subtitle indicates, the work has its roots in American own soil, but rather than being aboriginal or indigenous, it is intended to represent the spirit of the American people. The composer has described its four movements in this way: I: The spirit of optimism and energy: the American ability to ‘get things done’ II: pensive, then later in the second subject, animated in a folky way III: humorous and unmistakably typical of our country and its rhythms IV: the warmth and the spiritual side of the American people, their love of mankind. It may also be said that the music speaks of the fusion of musical cultures in North America".
The first movement is written in sonata form. It begins with a rhythmic main theme, contrasted by a lyrical second one derived from the opening bass line. The music blends elements of American different music style in search of the racial autochthonous character of the music. The harmonic language is far more dissonant than in earlier works as well. Follows a thematic transformation of these materials during the development. The harsh dissonances, along with thick orchestral textures, create palpable dramatic tension. A brief recapitulation leads us to a bright coda.
The second movement is structured in ternary form. It opens with a blues introduced by flute, followed by a lyrical main theme presented by oboe. It then unfolds in a romantic and expressive manner. The main theme of the first movement suddenly appears as the tempo increases, the music rising in a dynamic climax. The main theme is then sweetly recapitulated by flute, harp and strings. The oboe then references the middle section's theme. A peaceful coda ends the movement.
The third movement is a short scherzo in ternary form. It begins with a charming dance theme, derived from cakewalk and jazz. Clarinet and bassoon over brushes on drum and suspended cymbal set the stage for the theme in flutes and oboe under a walking bassline. The middle section features heavy brass, evoking the character of swing bands. The main theme of the first movement appears on three flutes as well. The dance theme is cheerfully recapitulated. The movement ends as the music is suddenly cut-off.
The fourth movement is very freely written, not following standard structured. It opens with a solemn main theme in form of a religious hymn. It seeks to resolve, but fails to do so and turns melancholic in expression. Suddenly, the main theme of the first movement reappears once again in a faster, more frenetic section. The main theme is then soberly recapitulated, but as the music grows more solemn and fervent, it leads us to a triumphal coda.
Picture: "Young Life" (1998) by the American painter Bo Bartlett.
Musical analysis partially written by myself. Sources: bit.ly/3EiJDZs and bit.ly/3YEJwzx
To check the score: bit.ly/3Iyfg3O - เพลง
Sadly, America has been so neglectful of the rich and wonderful music by its own people.
Hey there, William Grant Still's granddaughter here. Thank you for posting the music and for the informative notes. I just had one small tweak, which is that the symphony was composed in Los Angeles, not in Mission Viejo. He never lived or worked in Mission Viejo. His daughter, my mom, did.
Thanks for telling me, I just changed that detail.
I just recently discovered his music, and I must say I feel very lucky to have done so.
Hello; heard some of his music one morning on a University radio station in Indianapolis. Have been listening since. I wish more people knew of him and listened to his music.
I'm glad you are here. I have loved your grand father's work for years. It is so American to me. Honestly it is. I'm 71, i ran into his music in my teen years.
A pleasure to hear such LISTENABLE recent music. I have suggested his music to John Wilson a contemporary British conductor who regularly performs at The Proms from the Royal Albert Hall in London.
This most enjoyable Symphony. WGS writes so Damn American. Love It. This so authentic. Sadly, he will never get yhe recognition he deserves and we all know why. But thankfully there are these recordings to hear. The painting is inappropriate but I'm focused on the music. Sure would enjoy this live. Grateful to hear this.
I appreciate the straightforwardness of this, it gets to the point without unnecessary frippery (endless arpeggiation, mindless scalar noodling etc) and in that sense is very American. Also its motoric rhythm (no pun) is emblematic of our culture. And he doesn't shy away from 'difficult' sonorities or circuituous harmony. America can always use another musical mirror.
Your grandfather was a major American composer. You must be very proud of him. I have recordings of all five. I am listening to symphony number four on my I Pad with Bose earphones, and the sound is excellent. These works are full of wonderful melody, blues, and rhythm, plus deep feelings.
Best regards.
The Philadelphia Orchestra is performing his Sym #4 next season! Come visit Philly!
I have only just discovered his music and what a wonderful find it is too. I immediately put him up alongside Gershwin and company.
William Still Grant is a genius, period.
Not just period.......exclamation point!!!!!
Best part for me is Movement 3. That hypnotic triangle… ❤️
Thanks for posting these recordings Sergio. It’s so unfortunate that William Grant Still’s music is not known by more people. This symphony perfectly captures the free and adventurous American spirit. In general, Still’s symphonies are a breath of fresh air for this American listener who has spent a greater part of his development infatuated with French and Russian classical music. It evokes imagery that strikes closer to home, from weekend afternoons spent barbecuing in suburban backyards to summer breaks spent road tripping throughout the vast open plains of the West. Also, thank you for introducing me to Bo Bartlett. I think it would have been difficult to choose a more appropriate visual representation of the character of this piece than “Young Life”.
Amazing work, Still is certainly one of the greatest composers, in America or otherwise. So thankful that racial prejudices in this country did not keep Still from conducting, composing, and arranging such incredible pieces of music.
Yes, the triumph of the spirit. Still would be horrified by the current deplorable events taking place in the United States in recent times.
We can be thankful for that, even if racial prejudice had still been able to keep his incredible music from being heard and well-known until perhaps now.
His music stands on his own, much of it superior to his white peers. There is no excuse for not holding Still in the highest esteem.
I've been working my way through these symphonies, which for some reason were unfamiliar to me. This is the most interesting so far, although I like them all. I know it's heresy to say it, but next to Still Gershwin sounds stiff and contrived as in "Look at me! I'm being jazzy!"
The final plaintive theme in the last movement is both heart breaking & uplifting. Wonderful!
This is the first time I ever heard this that I can recall.
9:34.. beautiful and great sound!
revisiting this again after over a year. 4:57 ....... another beautiful moment. Nice to hear how that theme is manipulated and developed. William Grant Still is masterful
AMERICAN SOUND
Wonderful and new to me. Thanks so much. So rich and profound
An excellent piece of music!
People love the music, but hate the truck.
Yes, I do not understand this photo with this music. I just don't get it.
Forget Bernstein, Copland, and Gershwin. THIS is real America!
this is real african - american classical music......white folks do not like to pronouce correctly ,that sucks ; someone from europe speaks out.....
They all are. It's not a competition.
This is very musical stuff. Quintessentially American. In the 20th century composers either followed the revolutionaries or continued on the path laid down by their predecessors. Still chose to compose music that audiences could appreciate on the first hearing but being Black did not help his career in a field that was dominated by white men who had little tolerance for women or people of color.
11:48 Reminds me of Bernard Herrmann
This doesn't surprise me as Herrmann conducted several of Still's compositions when he was music director of the CBS Symphony Orchestra and they did know each other.
What I like most about this stunning piece by an African American composer is the painting used by the poster. The man with the dead deer on the roof of his old but serviceable pickup would be front and center in the crowd of any lynching in his area. Combine that with a left handed kid, which he would never allow because that's a sign of the devil, and we have the most incongruous pairing on youtube.
Because he drives a pickup you think he would be front and center in the crowd of a lynching? Your assumptions do not align with this piece or the art it depicts. The truck in this period was practically new, three tree stumps made subtle but obvious, and a young couple make me think of a working family starting out on fresh unworked land. I hardly think this portrait was intended to be ironic.
@@brblack2007 Bo Bartletts painting "Freedom" from 2019 would seem much more appropriate in 2021
as a "cover" for a work written by an African American composer
www.artsy.net/artwork/bo-bartlett-freedom
@@phblau1 stills original program notes that the symphony "speaks of the fusion of musical cultures in North America". Autochthonous- formed in its present position.
I think this cover art is a perfect choice for what the piece actually was intended.
@@brblack2007 He makes me think of a guy who should be portrayed wearing a red maga hat and a camp auschwitz sweatshirt. Then we would have a look into the American Heart of Darkness.
@@phblau1 thanks for that link; other paintings there by the artist too
Thanks for posting! Could you tell me who the painting is by?
The painting is titled "Young Life" (1998) by the American painter Bo Bartlett
@ thank you v much!
@ - Can you say a bit about why you elected to use this painting given the musical work by Still?
@@danfrachey908 To me, it seems many of these American realist painters fit well with the American composers I have shared. Usually I tend to go with artists from the same country as the composer, if its possible.
@ Still, it seems a little odd to choose a portrait of white America (with gun) to go with a compostiion from a black American.
A nostálgic view of norteamerica (EE.UU.)
Exactly! Good matching choice of accompanying artwork, too.....Greetings from San Agustinillo, Mexico!
Must have been a source of inspiration to the wonderful Jerome Moross. Did they know each other?
Given the fact that Moross and Still did orchestration work for several composers in Hollywood in the 1940s, this is very possible, though Moross' voice was already solidified by the time he may have heard this symphony. Moross' only symphony was written five years before Still composed this one, but the adage "great minds think alike" come to play here.
What is the painting?
The painting is titled "Young Life" (1998) by the American painter Bo Bartlett.
its a miracle!
LOL, That painting really fit my American dream
@ Bo Bartletts painting "Freedom" from 2019 would seem much more appropriate in 2021
www.artsy.net/artwork/bo-bartlett-freedom
@ I disagree with the plaudits given this paintings. The phallic rifle is a cliche. The incredibly flat background is clue artist couldn't muster skill at a realistic representation. And the fantasy is disagreeable, including the brazen youngster with folded arms.
Thank you for posting this symphony; it's the first time I've heard it. I am puzzled, though, as to the reason for the choice of a picture of a white family to illustrate a composition by an African-American composer titled "Autochthonous", which means indigenous. That child, especially, is not tribal. A portrait of the composer would have been more appropriate.
That picture reminds me too much of the tiresome cyclical habits of the state I live in, Montana.
What about that picture makes you think it's representative of Still's music?
indigenous rather than descended from migrants or colonists.
Words cannot describe my disappointment that it’s pronounced
Aw-tok-thuh-nuhs
Great symphony though
Honestly it wasn't the best name to put, perhaps it would have been better something like "American" or "From the United States".
The irony! The Bartlett painting should be entitled, "Portrait of American White Supremacy."
Why? just because they're white? I'm not sure what else you expect for a symphony which, in Still's words, depict "the spirit of the American people," whom are, as far as I am aware, mostly white!
a white painting for a black musician's work. keep up the good work😞
Why do you politicise? Not in the public interest.
That's almost beside the point. But the image chosen is misplaced. Doubt hunters give a damn for American classical music. The image is the poorest choice I might imagine for this or any symphony . Lacks representational merit. That's an unfinished piece of art. The rifle is a phallic toy. The little boy provides sad commentary on whatever culture he represents. Unfold your arms. When you're an adult I'd doubt you'd me a man judging by the lack of depth displayed in this picture plane.
@@ethanhill9460 my previous comment on the background of "whitewashing" black artist work being stolen and replaced with white families was removed. i assume this will be removed as well. so please google whitewashing of black musicians. so while you talk about a little boy with a stick you miss the bigger issue. but it's typical to sidestep the actual problem with something irrelevant.
@@ethanhill9460 I can't say what the uploader intended with the painting, but it's obvious he didn't mean to merely 'dress up' the symphony. Your criticism of the picture plane is sophomoric, I don't think you're looking at the artist's intention. What do you want, a Renaissance study in perspective? Your take on the boy is inaccurate: his arms are not folded, he's holding a stick. Whatever commentary on culture you care to derive, the striking thing about the boy pictorially is the counterbalance he provides to the dad with the gun. What' do suppose is the story there?
The symphony isn't called "Black America," so I don't know what race has to do with it. Have you read his comments about his own work in the description?