Simon Rattle to give African American premiere
mainUnnoticed by local media, Simon Rattle will be giving the UK premiere this weekend of Sinfonia No 4, ‘Strands’ by George Walker, the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music, which he did in 1996.
Rattle calls the work ‘deeply felt, extraordinarily well put together and absolutely his own voice.
The concert is with audience at LSO St Lukes and on Marquee online.
Walker died two years ago, aged 96.
Before anybody complains about kowtowing to current political pressures, George Walker is a pretty darn good composer.
Hear! Hear! Radio 3 devoted a week of programmes to him in January. Check them out here (only available in the U.K., I’m afraid):
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0800twf
So why mention his race?
African-American firsts are still noteworthy.
For the same reason Marian Anderson is still noteworthy as the first black singer to appear at the Metropolitan Opera. First female prime minister (of whatever country), first black tennis champion, etc. — nobody raises an eyebrow when something like that happens now, but back then it was a big deal.
It’s a part of history.
He sure is! A whole festival could be built from Walker, Ulysses Kay, William Grant Still, Florence Price and Samuel-Coleridge Taylor. Just an idea for those summer festivals that are so stuck in the dead-white-European-male repertoire.
Walker is an excellent composer. No need for you to make racist, sexist comments about European composers.
LOL
Agreed, especially his earlier works like the Lyric for Strings, Trombone Concerto and his early piano music.
I was a student of his in the late 70’s at Rutgers University.
It’s so sad. I, too, read many articles and immediately put my defenses up because I know what the comments are likely to say.
Yes, you’re correct. How sad it would be if anyone made negative comments about this upcoming performance solely because they don’t know Mr. Walker’s work and therefore believe this is ‘kowtowing’ to political correctness or to ‘wokeness’.
I’d personally like to hear it.
I sure believe it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_QpR3ZnesQ
But that this piece is performed just now in the BLM period gives food for thought. Walker wrote tonal music, and since Rattle always bought the party line version of musical progress, according to which Walker is ‘regressive’, it is clear to me that he merely jumps on the woke bandwagon.
If music needs a racist controversy to be heard, again one of the crazy things of the profession.
He is an excellent composer and I would challenge anyone to say otherwise. He was the first African-American to attend the Curtis Institute and my cello teacher was in his graduating class. I always remember that she had on her desk a framed photo of the class with Walker alongside Sam Barber and Gian-Carlo Menotti.
Hi Sam! Is there a cello concerto?? 😉
“Yes”, sir. Not exactly a Cello Concerto but a composition for Solo Cello and Orchestra – “Dialogues”.
Absolutely! And it is a fine work:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MoNVgcdDXs&t=35s
He was not only a really fine composer, Sam….but a true gentleman. Great guy. I’ve played a lot of the solo piano music
Muti and the Philadelphia played Lyric for Strings by this composer
Why does this have to be an “African American” premiere? It is a piece being premiered in the UK!!!!!! Take race out of this!!!
Thank you, and bless you, Simon Rattle!
He’s fantastic. Check out the piece with which he won the Pulitzer–Lilacs. Gorgeous.
George Walker was a terrific composer whose “Lyric for Strings” gets a decent amount of play by U.S. orchestras but few have delved much deeper into his oeuvre. “Lilacs,” for soprano and orchestra, is the piece for which he won the Pulitzer, and it’s lovely. Good for Sir Simon to do something his colleagues on the other side of the pond should have been doing for a while.
You misspelled: “Premiere of first African American Pulitzer Prize winner George Walker to be given by LSO.”
You misspelled: “UK** Premiere of first African American Pulitzer Prize winner George Walker to be given by LSO.”
“Strands” was given its premiere by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. (Walker made his home in Montclair.) Saw him once in Philadelphia, in 2009, at the premiere of his Violin Concerto, written for his son. The orchestra also performed “Lilacs,” his Pulitzer Prize winner, that season. “Lyric for Strings” is his big hit, and deservedly so. He certainly knew his craft.