Still Symphony no 1

 Day 124

William Grant Still Symphony no 1 Afro-American Symphony

Forth Smith Symphony Orchestra

John Jeter

This is generally reckoned to be the first symphony written by an African-American performed by a leading US orchestra - in this case the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, which gave the first performance in 1931.  As such it deserves respect and recognition, but I must confess I found it rather tedious. It inhabits the same musical world as George Gershwin and I have never been much attracted to his music so perhaps it was not surprising that I had the same reaction to this symphony. It seems to me to have all of the clichés of the popular American jazz-folk style without really absorbing them into a symphonic whole. It did not quite know how seriously to take itself. I can imagine that it is quite fun in a live performance - to see a Banjo playing with a symphony orchestra is a rare sight (though there are some Gershwin pieces that do this) but other than novelty value I don't see this pieces as having any sort of permanent place in the concert repertoire.