A prodigious, much-honored composer and conductor, William Grant Still was a longtime pioneer on the American music scene. He was the first Black person to have an opera produced by a major U.S. company, to have an opera televised on a national network, and to conduct a major symphony orchestra. When violinist Louis Kaufman offered him a commission, Still produced a glowing work that reflected that illustrious performer’s passion for the visual arts and interest in a composition melding popular, blues, and jazzy elements with classical forms and techniques.

The composer explained that his Suite for Violin and Piano from 1943 was “suggested by” sculptures by several Harlem Renaissance artists. The opening movement references Richmond Barthé’s “African Dancer,” and is big, bold, and high-energy, capturing the sculpted figure in the throes of dance. The Suite’s songful, meditative central movement was inspired by a series of “mother-and-child” paintings and sculptures by Sargent Johnson, which reminded the composer of the complexities of his own mother’s love and its duality – both nurturing and disciplined. The joyful, carefree finale is animated by Augusta Savage’s portrait bust of a confident young boy.
Please enjoy this 45-minute-long program, featuring Music from Copland House’s complete performance of Still’s exuberant, affecting work, followed by a live Q&A between viewers and artists.
Music from Copland House featured artists: Curtis Macomber, violin; Michael Boriskin, piano.

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