Often referred to as the “Dean of African-American Composers,” William Grant Still (1895–1978) was a renowned composer and arranger, with numerous commissions from prominent orchestras and conductors to his name. Throughout his prolific career in both commercial and art music, he broke numerous racial barriers, accumulating several “firsts”: the first African-American composer to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra (Rochester Symphony, 1931), to conduct a major orchestra (Los Angeles Philharmonic, 1936), and to have an opera performed by a top-tier company (New York City Opera, 1949), to name a few. He is credited with pioneering an American style of concert music based on African-American folk and vernacular music idioms.

Written in 1958, Symphony No. 3 was actually the last of Still’s five symphonies and the only one not to be performed during his lifetime. (He retracted and revised his third symphony, renumbering it Symphony No. 5.) Like his other symphonies, Still gave Symphony No. 3 a descriptive subtitle: “The Sunday Symphony.”

This symphony tracks the average Sunday of a devout Christian such as himself. His daughter Judith Still Headlee explains that this work doesn’t express just one day for him but “a lifelong way of thinking. Every day in his career was one of prayer and self-improvement, and for him, every day and every piece of music constituted a new beginning and a fuller opportunity to serve the Creator.”

Each movement of the symphony bears a descriptive title as well as a tempo marking. “The Awakening: Moderately Fast” begins with a bold brass declamation calling the worshipers to church. Short motives are developed and passed around the orchestra in a flurry of activity. “Prayer: Very Slowly” presents a mournful English horn theme reminiscent of a spiritual, with blue-note inflections adding further pathos. 

“Relaxation: Gaily” proves you can be devout and still have fun. The playful scherzo features chattering winds and delicate tambourine playing, with a modal brass section providing textural contrast but no less rhythmic impulse. Finally, recalling the stern repeated notes of the opening, “Day’s End and a New Beginning: Resolutely” reflects Still’s philosophy that each day provides a new opportunity to praise God.

-Katherine Buzard