During his 26 seasons with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the charismatic conductor Leopold Stokowski often programmed new music by contemporary composers.
On today’s date in 1937, for example, Stokowski and the Philadelphians performed works by two American composers. First up was some ballet music by Robert McBride, which The Philadelphia Inquirer reviewer found “of indifferent interest.”
The same critic, however, was enthusiastic about the second work, the premiere performance of the William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 2, Song of a New Race. “[It] was of absorbing interest, unmistakably racial in thematic material and rhythms, and triumphantly articulate in expression of moods, ranging from the exuberance of jazz to brooding wistfulness.”
Still contrasted his Symphony No. 2 with his Symphony No. 1, the Afro-American Symphony. “[If my Symphony No. 1] represented the Negro of days not far removed from the Civil War,” his Symphony No. 2, said Still, represented “the American colored man of today, in so many instances a totally new individual.”
One striking feature of Still’s Symphony No. 2 is the expansive, lyrical writing for strings, perhaps a nod to the Philadelphia’s famously silky string sound; another is the brass choir call and response gestures, reminiscent of African-American church music traditions.
William Grant Still (1875-1978): Symphony No. 2 (Song of a New Race); Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Neeme Jarvi, conductor; Chandos 9226