The 20th-century
brought more changes to the symphony. One major movement that developed is
known as neoclassicism. This term refers to the attempt to reach back to older
musical forms from the Baroque and Classical periods as a reaction to the
dramatic, emotional compositions created during the Romantic period. Many
composers used chamber ensembles to perform their symphonies (similar in size
to those used during the early classical period) rather than orchestras of 200
musicians. Some used elements including counterpoint and fugue in their work,
combining it with modern ideas of tonality. Stravinsky and Hindemith are
examples of neo-classical composers.
Still other
composers expanded on symphonic ideas by adding quotations from other popular
tunes (Ives), simplifying and repeating rhythms through minimalism (Glass),
using newly-invented electronic instruments (Messiaen) amongst many other new
techniques.
Today I would like
to take a closer look at one 20th-century symphony written by William Grant
Still: his Afro-American Symphony. Living during a time when African-Americans
were excluded from the classical music world, Still made great strides by
becoming the first African-American to conduct a symphony orchestra in the U.S.
as well as the first to have an opera produced by a major opera company. His
symphonic writing incorporated many American idioms within the European
symphonic design (four-movements). Several of the uniquely American
characteristics Still incorporates include jazz elements and plantation spiritual
references.
Listen here to
Still’s Afro-American Symphony. Can you hear these distinctly American
elements?
