William Grant Still
Born: 11th May 1895, Woodville, Mississippi, U.S.A
Died: 3rd December 1978, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A
Nationality: American
William Grant Still Jr. was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, and more than thirty choral works, art songs, chamber music, and solo works. Born in Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Still attended Wilberforce University and Oberlin Conservatory of Music as a student of George Whitefield Chadwick and then as a student of Edgard Varèse. Because of his close association and collaboration with prominent African-American literary and cultural figures, Still is considered to be part of the Harlem Renaissance.
Still was the first American composer to have an opera produced by the New York City Opera. He is known primarily for his first symphony, Afro-American Symphony (1930), which, until 1950, was the most widely performed symphony composed by an American.
Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Grant_Still
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Further Reading: Still, W G
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Composer Spotlight: William Grant Still
13th Jan 2026
William Grant Still (1895-1978) was a pioneer of American music in the early 1900s, and is often referred to as the 'dean of African-American Classical Composers'. Find out more.
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Woodwind
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Brass
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Strings
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Vocal & Choral
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Chamber Music
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Ensembles & Scores
All Works: Still, W G
- Sahdji (3)
- Cameos (2) (1)
- Christmas in the Western World, 'Las Pascuas' (4)
- Cloud Cradles (No. 1 from Seven Traceries) (1)
- Danzas de Panama (3)
- Dismal Swamp (2)
- Ennanga (5)
- Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit (1)
- Festive Overture (1)
- Folk Suite for Band (1)
- From the Black Belt (3)
- Incantation and Dance (1)
- Kaintuck - Poem for Two Pianos (1)
- Miniatures (2)
- Pages from Negro History (1)
- Picnic With Sheilah (1)
- Quit dat Fool'nish (1)
- Romance (2)
- Serenade for Orchestra (2)
- Suite for Violin and Orchestra (2)
- Symphony No. 1 'Afro-American' (1)
- Symphony No. 2 in G minor 'Song of a New Race' (1)
- Symphony No. 2 in G minor 'Song of a New Race': Movement II (2)
- Symphony No. 3 (2)
- Symphony No. 4 ‘Autochthonous’ (1)
- The Little Song That Wanted To Be A Symphony (2)
- Three Visions (1)
- Three Visions: II. Summerland (1)
- Toward Distant Shores (1)
- Vignettes: II. Carmela (1)
- We Sang Our Songs (1)
- Wood Notes (1)
