Show threadGygesringtoneNov 2, 2024

And the harmony behind that second phrase, I could live in that harmony.

The whole piece is just magic.

#ClassicalMusic #AfricanAmericanMusicians #AfricanAmericanComposers #WillamGrantStill

Show threadGygesringtoneNov 2, 2024

The shear amount of emotion packed into an incredibly efficient reuse of melodic material, and the richness of the harmonic structure is just... amazing.

But what I can't get over is the opening phrase. The way it just hugs that low Db (could be a C#, I'm not looking at the music, just going by ear), even at the end where there's a little bit of a rising melody that jumps back down for the last note.

The contrast in the register\tone makes that run up to beginning of the next phrase just shimmer.

#ClassicalMusic #AfricanAmericanMusicians #AfricanAmericanComposers #WillamGrantStill #AfricanAmericanArtists
#MusicCompostion #Orchestration

GygesringtoneNov 2, 2024

So I took my middle child to a (small) concert focusing on Violin Sonatas. They played the Brahms in D minor and a Mozart. It was fantastic.

Then they busted out Mother and Child by William Grant Still. And jaws just dropped. Including my own.

Technically, it wasn't nearly as challenging as either of the other pieces to perform, but each phrase is perfection. Not a single extra or missing note.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O2q5ZPdlFM

And here's a short bit about the art work that inspired it.

https://interlude.hk/musicians-and-artists-william-grant-still-and-sculpture/

#ClassicalMusic #AfricanAmericanMusicians #AfricanAmericanComposers #WillamGrantStill #AfricanAmericanArtists

Randall Goosby and Zhu Wang | Grant Still: Suite for Violin and Piano, II. Mother and Child

YouTube