William Grant Still was born in Woodville, Mississippi, on May 11, 1895, and died in Los Angeles, California, on December 3, 1978. The first performance of Festive Overture took place Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 19, 1945, with Eugene Goossens conducting the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Festive Overture is scored for piccolo, three flutes, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, snare drum, military drum, triangle, tambourine, glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba, chimes, resonator bells, geeko cymbal, harp, celesta, and strings. Approximate performance time is ten minutes.
In 1944, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra held a nationwide contest to celebrate the ensemble’s 50th anniversary. 39 composers submitted orchestral overtures that were judged by a panel comprising CSO Music Director Eugene Goossens, San Francisco Symphony Music Director Pierre Monteux, and composer and critic Deems Taylor. The panel, unaware of the identities of the participating composers, unanimously selected William Grant Still’s Festive Overture as the contest winner. Goossens, who led the Cincinnati Symphony’s world premiere on January 19, 1945, provided the following commentary for the program notes: “The prize-winning composition…which was written and scored in the space of a few weeks, has a definite American flavor. It bespeaks the pride of the composer in his native land, the warmth of the American people, and the grandeur of Scenic America.”
program notes by Ken Meltzer
