William Grant Still - African American Composer and Pioneer

William Grant Still, African American Composer and Pioneer

William Grant Still has been dubbed the “Dean of African American Composers.” However to put such a limiting title on such a great composer does not do justice to exemplifying the greatness of his work. William Grant Still composed pieces that touched people of all races, not just African Americans. He wrote symphonies, ballets, children’s songs, and operas. In addition to his compositional accomplishments, he was a noted arranger of many radio programs, and popular/commercial music pieces. He was a man of many firsts including the first African-American in the United States to have a symphony performed by a major symphony orchestra, and the first African-American to conduct a major symphony orchestra in the United States. He was also the first African American to have an opera produced by a major opera company. William Grant Still was a prolific composer from humble beginnings.

William Grant Still was born on May 11, 1895, in Woodville Mississippi. When William was an infant, his father passed away. William and his mother would then relocate to Little Rock, Arkansas. His mother Carrie became an English teacher M.W. Gibbs High School. When William was about nine years old, his mother married a man named Charles Shepperson. Later in his life, William attended the high school where his mother was a teacher. He was aware that his mother’s occupation impeded his ability to participate in his peer’s mischievous activities. William started his formal music education at the school by taking violin lessons from a private instructor. Charles Shepperson nurtured young William’s interest in music. Shepperson and purchased him the Red Seal operatic recordings, which peaked his interest in opera.

After high school, he attended Wilberforce University. He entered the university as a Pre-Med student, but yearned to study music. He spent most of his time at Wilberforce immersing himself in the band. He learned to play several instruments and conducted the band. He would leave Wilberforce because of accusations of an improper relationship with a young lady who would later become his first wife in 1915. William later attended Oberlin College after a brief stint in the Navy. William left Oberlin in 1919 to accept a position offered to him by W.C. Handy in the Pace and Handy Music Publishing Company.

This was William’s first job in the world of commercial music, but would not be his last. There Still authored arrangements for dance bands and jazz groups. He also toured with Handy’s bands, playing such instruments as the oboe, violin, and cello.

Still relocated to Boston and played oboe in the “Shuffle Along” orchestra. There he studied at the New England Conservatory with George Chadwick. He also later studied with the modern composer, Edgard Varиse. After his studies with Varиse, Still would return to New York, and go on to work for noted musical figures such as Don Voorhees, Willard Robison, and Paul Whiteman.

While writing arrangements for the Paul Whiteman Orchestra and the “Old Gold Hour” radio program, Still completed the ballet “Sahdji.” Still returned to New York where he began to write the “Afro-American Symphony, which he finished in 1930. The symphony made its debut in 1931 at the Eastman school of music. It was the first symphony of its kind, it incorporated genres such as jazz and blues and included the use of a banjo. In 1931 he arranged and conducted Willard Robison’s “Deep River Hour” for CBS and WOR. In 1933 his composition “The Deserted Plantation,” was performed at the Metropolitan Opera House by The Paul Whiteman Orchestra. His fame continued to grow when his ballet “La Guiablesse” was performed by a completely Caucasian cast. Notably Still also did an arrangement for a young Bing Crosby. In later years, he would later to go on to write the entire score of a movie “Pennies From Heaven,” which starred Bing Crosby. Still received seven honorary degrees from various prestigious universities, including six honorary doctorates throughout his career. Still also received many awards during his lifetime,