William Grant Still, Jr.
William Grant Still (1895–1978)
American composer William Grant Still wrote nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, and more than thirty choral works. Often called "the Dean of African American composers," his 1940 choral cantata And They Lynched Him on a Tree evoked the violence directed at the Southern Black population, using two separate choruses — a white mob and a Black chorus of mourners — in devastating counterpoint. He was the first African American composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra and the first to conduct a major American orchestra. His musical language drew on spirituals, blues, jazz, and the Western classical tradition, weaving them into works of profound expressive power.
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