George Walker (1922-2018)
Although he started out as a highly promising concert pianist, George Walker was writing substantial music from his mid-twenties. By the time he was 40, he had solidly established himself as a flexible, fully contemporary composer and it is on his large catalog of works produced from the early '50s to about 1990 that his reputation will rest. Walker seemed destined for a fine career at the keyboard. He won acclaim with his Town Hall debut in New York in 1945 and was the first black musician to play there. Also that year, he was the first African American instrumentalist to win the Philadelphia Orchestra auditions, which led to a performance of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 with that orchestra and Eugene Ormandy. He toured America and Europe as a soloist through the 1950s. During this period, his presence as a black man on the classical stage surely held curiosity value, but it was through his work as a pianist and subsequently as a composer that the African American presence in classical music began to seem unexceptional. From the mid-'50s, his teaching career included short stints at various colleges and long-term affiliations with Smith College (1961 - 1968) and Rutgers University (1969 - 1992, including two years chairing the music department). "I believe that music is above race," Walker once said, and his own music does not strongly position him as an African American composer. His mature style grafts serialism onto neo-Classical forms, binding the two with complex rhythms, Hindemithian counterpoint, strong timbral contrasts, and occasional evocations of black folk music through reference to blues, spirituals, and jazz. He won the Pulitzer Prize (the first living black composer to do so) in 1996 for Lilacs, a work for soprano or tenor and orchestra, commissioned by the Boston Symphony. - James Reel/AllMusicCOMPOSITIONS George Walker Links ~ ~ ~ Works by Genre
Caprice, piano (1940) [pub. with Prelude, 1946 as "Prelude and Caprice", 1975]
Response, voice and piano (1940) [text: Paul Laurence Dunbar] [pub. in collection "Nine Songs", 1994]
Prelude, piano (1945) [pub. 1975 with Caprice, 1940] [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Aria, piano (1945?) [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Toccata, piano (1945?) [Toccatina?] [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Sonata in E minor, violin and piano (1945?) [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Three Pieces, piano (1945?) [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Touchpiece, piano (1945, unpublished)
String Quartet No. 1 (1946)
- Lyric for Strings (1946; rev. 1975) [orig. title: Lament for Strings] [2nd mvt of String Quartet No. 1]
Music for diverse instruments, brass nonet (195?)
Invokation, brass (1952) [?also in Music for Brass (Sacred and Profane), 1975)
Six Songs for Voice and Piano (1953)
Stars, chorus (1953; pub. 1968) [text: Susan D. Keeney]
O Praise the Lord, chorus (1953; pub. 1975) [text: Psalm 117]
?Three Spirituals, voice and piano (1953)
Piano Sonata No.1 (1953; pub. 1972, rev. 1991)
Piano Sonata No. 2 (1957; pub. 1966)
Sonata for Two Pianos (1957; pub. 1981)
Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (1957; republished 1978)
Sonata for Cello and Piano (1957; pub. 1972)
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 (1958; pub. 1970)
Three Lyrics, chorus and piano (1958; pub. 1971)
Address for Orchestra (1959; pub. 1970; rev. 1991)
O Lord God of Hosts (O Lord of Hosts), chorus and organ (1960; pub. 1975) [text: Psalm 84]
Spatials, piano (1961; pub. 1972)
Three Pieces for Organ (1961; pub. 1981?/1985?)
Gloria in memoriam, female chorus [SSA] and organ (1963)
?Three Hymns (1963)
Sing Unto the Lord, chorus (1963) [text: Psalm 96]
Give Thanks Unto the Lord, female chorus [SSA] and organ (1963; pub. 1975) [text: Psalm 105]
Psalm 148, chorus and organ (1963; pub. 1975) [text: Psalm 148, "Praise Ye the Lord"]
Perimeters, clarinet and piano (1966; pub. 1972)
String Quartet No. 2 (1967; rev. 1968; rev. again, 1992)
Antifonys, chamber orchestra (1968; pub. 1978) [also arr. for string orchestra]
Symphony for Orchestra (1969, withdrawn) [2nd mvt used in Serenata, 1983)
Music for 3, violin, cello and piano (1970; pub. 1972; rev. 1995)
Lament, voice and piano (1971; pub. 1975) [text: Countee Cullen]
With this small key, chorus (1971; pub. 1975; rev. 1995) [text: Sister Maria Therese]
A Red, Red Rose, voice and piano (1971; pub. 1975) [text: Robert Burns]
Blow, blow, thou winter wind, chorus (1971) [text: Shakespeare]
Variations for Orchestra (1971; pub. 1972)
Spektra, piano (1971; pub. 1972)
Five Fancies, clarinet and piano 4-hands (1974; pub. 1978)
Spirituals for Orchestra (1974) [revised and pub. as "Folksongs", 1991]
Three Spirituals, voice and piano (pub. 1975)
Hey Nonny No, voice and piano (1975) [text: anon.]
Piano Sonata No.3 (1975; pub. 1976; rev. 1994)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1975; rev. 1996)
Music for Brass (Sacred and Profane), brass quintet (1975; pub. 1979)
Dialogus, cello and orchestra (1975; pub. 1976; rev. 1996)
A Babe is Born, chorus (1975; pub. 1979) [text: Medieval]
Mass, soloists, chorus and orchestra (1977; pub. 1978)
Bauble, piano (1979; pub. 1981) [written as a contest piece]
Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, in one movement (1979; rev. 1995)
Overture: In Praise of Folly, orchestra (1981)
Cantata, soprano, tenor, boys choir and chamber orchestra (1982; pub. 1986) [text: Psalm 23 & 24]
Cello Concerto (1982; pub. 1987)
- revised as Movements, cello and orchestra (2012)
?Five Songs for Voice and Piano (1982)
Serenata, chamber orchestra (1983)
An Eastman Overture, orchestra (1983)
Piano Sonata No. 4 (1984; pub. 1985)
Sinfonia No. 1, orchestra (1984; pub. 1985; rev 1996)
Violin Concerto (1984)
- Poeme, violin and orchestra (1989; rev. 1991) [original title: Violin Concerto, 1984]
Music for Two Pianos (1985)
Guido's Hand (5 pieces), piano (1986; pub. 1987)
Emily Dickinson Songs, voice and piano (pub. 1986)
Nocturne, voice and piano (pub. 1986) [text: Donald S. Hayes]
Poem, soprano and chamber ensemble (1987) [text: The hollow men by T.S. Eliot]
Softly, blow lightly, voice and piano (1998) [text: Jeffrey Hayes]
Sonata for Viola and Piano (1989)
Sinfonia No. 2, orchestra (1990)
Three Songs, voice and piano (1992)
Orpheus, narrator, 3 speakers and chamber orchestra (1994)
Nine Songs, voice and piano ("revised 1994")
Lilacs, voice and orchestra (1995) [text: Walt Whitman] [1996 Pulitzer Prize]
Pageant and Proclamation, orchestra (1997)
Two Pieces for Organ (1997)
Spires, organ (1998)
Tangents, chamber orchestra (1999)
Windset, woodwind quintet (1999)
Canvas, narrator and wind ensemble (2000)
Modus, fl, ob/EH, guitar I/mand, guitar II, vln, vc (2001)
Sinfonia No. 3, orchestra (2002; rev 2007)
And Wilt Thou Leave Me Thus, voice and piano (pub. 2002) [text: Thomas Wyatt]
Icarus In Orbit, orchestra (2003)
Abu, 2 narrators, violin, cello and piano (2003) [text: James Henry Leigh Hunt]
Piano Sonata No.5 (2003)
Foils for Orchestra: Hommage a Saint George (2005)
Hoopla: A Touch of Glee, orchestra (2005; rev 2007)
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2007; rev 2009)
Da Camera, chamber ensemble/orchestra (2008)
Après heures, violin (2009; pub. 2011)
Sinfonia No. 4 ("Strands") (2011)
Bleu, violin (2011)
Da camera, piano trio, string orchestra, harp, celesta, percussion & optional string ensemble (2011)
Movements, cello and orchestra (2012) [revised version of Cello Concerto, 1982]
Sinfonia No. 5 ("Visions") (2016) [2 versions, one with voices and one without]
WORKS BY GENRE George Walker Links ~ top of page ~
Orchestra
Lyric for Strings (1946; rev. 1975) [orig. title: Lament for Strings] [2nd mvt of String Quartet No. 1]
Address for Orchestra (1959; pub. 1970; rev. 1991)
Antifonys, chamber orchestra (1968; pub. 1978) [also arr. for string orchestra]
Symphony for Orchestra (1969, withdrawn) [2nd mvt used in Serenata, 1983)
Variations for Orchestra (1971; pub. 1972)
Spirituals for Orchestra (1974) [revised and pub. as "Folksongs", 1991]
- Ain't Gonna Study War No More
- And He Never Said a Mumblin' Word
- My Lord, What a Morning
- Oh Peter, Go Ring Dem Bells
Overture: In Praise of Folly, orchestra (1981)
Serenata, chamber orchestra (1983)
An Eastman Overture, orchestra (1983)
Sinfonia No. 1, orchestra (1984; pub. 1985; rev 1996)
Sinfonia No. 2, orchestra (1990)
Pageant and Proclamation, orchestra (1997)
Tangents, chamber orchestra (1999)
Sinfonia No. 3, orchestra (2002; rev 2007)
Icarus In Orbit, orchestra (2003)
Foils for Orchestra: Hommage a Saint George (2005)
Hoopla: A Touch of Glee, orchestra (2005; rev 2007)
Da Camera, chamber ensemble/orchestra (2008)
Sinfonia No. 4 ("Strands"), orchestra (2011)
Da camera, piano trio, string orchestra, harp, celesta, percussion & optional string ensemble (2011)
Sinfonia No. 5 ("Visions") (2016) [2 versions, one with voices and one without]
Band/Wind Ensemble
Canvas, narrator and wind ensemble (2000)
- Extract 1: Landscape, "The View Below" [winds alone]
- Extract 2: Commentary, "Voices in the corridor" [5 narrators and winds]
- Extract 3: Psalm 121, "The Horizon and Beyond" [chorus and winds]
Soloist(s) w/Orchestra
Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra (1957; republished 1978)
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1975; rev. 1996)
Dialogus, cello and orchestra (1975; pub. 1976; rev. 1996)
Cello Concerto (1982; pub. 1987)
- revised as Movements, cello and orchestra (2012)
Violin Concerto (1984)
- Poeme, violin and orchestra (1989; rev. 1991) [original title: Violin Concerto, 1984]
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (2007; rev 2009)
Movements, cello and orchestra (2012) [revised version of Cello Concerto, 1982]
Da camera, piano trio, string orchestra, harp, celesta, percussion & optional string ensemble (2011)
Chorus w/Orchestra
Mass, soloists, chorus and orchestra (1977; pub. 1978)
Cantata, soprano, tenor, boys choir and chamber orchestra (1982; pub. 1986) [text: Psalm 23 & 24]
Choral
Stars, chorus (1953; pub. 1968) [text: Susan D. Keeney]
O Praise the Lord, chorus (1953; pub. 1975) [text: Psalm 117]
Three Lyrics, chorus and piano (1958; pub. 1971)
- The bereaved maid [text: anon.]
- Take, O take those lips away [text: Shakespeare] [pub. for voice and piano, 2004]
- O western wind [text: anon.]
O Lord God of Hosts (O Lord of Hosts), chorus and organ (1960; pub. 1975) [text: Psalm 84]
Gloria in memoriam, female chorus [SSA] and organ (1963)
?Three Hymns (1963)
Sing Unto the Lord, chorus (1963) [text: Psalm 96]
Give Thanks Unto the Lord, female chorus [SSA] and organ (1963; pub. 1975) [text: Psalm 105]
Psalm 148, chorus and organ (1963; pub. 1975) [text: Psalm 148, "Praise Ye the Lord"]
With this small key, chorus (1971; pub. 1975; rev. 1995) [text: Sister Maria Therese]
Blow, blow, thou winter wind, chorus (1971) [text: Shakespeare]
A Babe is Born, chorus (1975; pub. 1979) [text: Medieval]
Chamber
String Quartet No. 1 (1946)
- Lyric for Strings (1946; rev. 1975) [orig. title: Lament for Strings] [2nd mvt of String Quartet No. 1]
Music for diverse instruments, brass nonet (195?)
Invokation, brass (1952) [?also in Music for Brass (Sacred and Profane), 1975)
String Quartet No. 2 (1967; rev. 1968; rev. again, 1992)
Music for 3, violin, cello and piano (1970; pub. 1972; rev. 1995)
Five Fancies, clarinet and piano 4-hands (1974; pub. 1978)
Music for Brass (Sacred and Profane), brass quintet (1975; pub. 1979)
- Invokation (1952)
- Dance I
- Chorale: Jesus, wir sind hier
- Dance II
Windset, woodwind quintet (1999)
Modus, fl, ob/EH, guitar I/mand, guitar II, vln, vc (2001)
Da Camera, chamber ensemble/orchestra (2008)
Instrument and Piano
Sonata in E minor, violin and piano (1945?) [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Sonata for Cello and Piano (1957; pub. 1972)
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 (1958; pub. 1970)
Perimeters, clarinet and piano (1966; pub. 1972)
Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano, in one movement (1979; rev. 1995)
Sonata for Viola and Piano (1989)
Solo Instrument
Après heures, violin (2009; pub. 2011)
Bleu, violin (2011)
Piano
Caprice, piano (1940) [pub. with Prelude, 1946 as "Prelude and Caprice", 1975]
Prelude, piano (1945) [pub. 1975 with Caprice, 1940] [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Aria, piano (1945?) [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Toccata, piano (1945?) [Toccatina?] [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Three Pieces, piano (1945?) [performed by Walker on Curtis Inst. of Music recital]
Touchpiece, piano (1945, unpublished)
Piano Sonata No.1 (1953; pub. 1972, rev. 1991)
- Variations of a Kentucky Folk Song, piano (1953) [2nd mvt of Piano Sonata No.1, 1953]
Piano Sonata No. 2 (1957; pub. 1966)
Sonata for Two Pianos (1957; pub. 1981)
Spatials, piano (1961; pub. 1972)
Spektra, piano (1971; pub. 1972)
Piano Sonata No.3 (1975; pub. 1976; rev. 1994)
Bauble, piano (1979; pub. 1981) [written as a contest piece]
Piano Sonata No. 4 (1984; pub. 1985)
Music for Two Pianos (1985)
Guido's Hand (5 pieces), piano (1986; pub. 1987)
Piano Sonata No.5 (2003)
Organ
Three Pieces for Organ (1961; pub. 1981?/1985?)
- Elevation
- Meditation: Jesu, wir sind hier
- Invokation
Two Pieces for Organ (1997)
- Prayer
- Improvisation
Spires, organ (1998)
Vocal
Response, voice and piano (1940) [text: Paul Laurence Dunbar] [pub. in collection "Nine Songs", 1994]
Six Songs for Voice and Piano (1953)
- I Went to Heaven (1953; pub. 1971) [text: Emily Dickinson] [in "Emily Dickinson Songs", 1971]
- So We'll Go No More A-Roving (1953) [text: Lord Byron] [pub. in collection "Nine Songs", 1971]
- With Rue My Heart is Laden (1953) [text: A. E. Housman] [pub. in collection "Nine Songs", 1971]
- The Bereaved Maid (1953) [text: anon. 15th cent.] [pub. in collection "Nine Songs", 1971]
- Sweet, Let Me Go (1953) [text: anon.] [pub. in collection "Nine Songs", 1971]
- ???? [Take, O take those lips away]
?Three Spirituals, voice and piano (1953)
Lament, voice and piano (1971; pub. 1975) [text: Countee Cullen]
A Red, Red Rose, voice and piano (1971; pub. 1975) [text: Robert Burns]
Three Spirituals, voice and piano (pub. 1975)
- Ev'ry time I feel de spirit (arr. 1947)
- I got a letter from Jesus (arr. 1954)
- Mary wore three links of chain (arr. 1954)
Hey Nonny No, voice and piano (1975) [text: anon.]
?Five Songs for Voice and Piano (1982)
Emily Dickinson Songs, voice and piano (pub. 1986)
- Wild Nights
- What If I Say I Shall Not Wait
- I Have No Life But This
- Bequest
Nocturne, voice and piano (pub. 1986) [text: Donald S. Hayes]
Poem, soprano and chamber ensemble (1987) [text: The hollow men by T.S. Eliot]
Softly, blow lightly, voice and piano (1998) [text: Jeffrey Hayes]
Three Songs, voice and piano (1992)
- In Time of Silver Rain, voice and piano (1992) [text: Langston Hughes]
- I Never Saw a Moor, voice and piano (1986?) [text: Emily Dickinson]
- Mother Goose (Circa 2054), voice and piano (1992) [text: Irene Sekula]
Orpheus, narrator, 3 speakers and chamber orchestra (1994)
Nine Songs, voice and piano ("revised 1994")
- Response, voice and piano (1940) [text: Paul Laurence Dunbar]
- So We'll Go No More A-Roving, voice and piano (1953) [text: Lord Byron]
- Hey Nonny No, voice and piano (1975) [text: anon.]
- The Bereaved Maid, voice and piano (1953) [text: anon. 15th cent.]
- I Went to Heaven (1953) [text: Emily Dickinson]
- Sweet, Let Me Go, voice and piano (1953) [text: anon.]
- With Rue My Heart is Laden (1953) [text: A. E. Housman]
- Lament (1971) [text: Countee Cullen]
- Leaving, voice and piano (1994?) [text: George Walker]
Lilacs, voice and orchestra (1995) [text: Walt Whitman] [1996 Pulitzer Prize]
Canvas, narrator and wind ensemble (2000)
- Extract 1: Landscape, "The View Below" [winds alone]
- Extract 2: Commentary, "Voices in the corridor" [5 narrators and winds]
- Extract 3: Psalm 121, "The Horizon and Beyond" [chorus and winds]
And Wilt Thou Leave Me Thus, voice and piano (pub. 2002) [text: Thomas Wyatt]
Abu, 2 narrators, violin, cello and piano (2003) [text: James Henry Leigh Hunt]
Take, O Take Those Lips Away, voice and piano (pub. 2004) [text: Shakespeare] [from "Three Lyrics", 1958]
GEORGE WALKER LINKS Works by Genre ~ top of page ~
Composer / Pianist George Walker - A Conversation with Bruce Duffie
Devotion to a Personal Vision—Remembering George Walker (1922-2018) (NewMusic USA)
The Evolutionary Development of Compositional Technique and Style in the Piano Sonatas of George Walker (Dennis L. Boe, 1995)
George Walker: Concise and Precise (NewMusic USA)
George Walker: His Story, His Song, His Legacy (V.D. Brown / Jstor)
George Walker’s Piano Music: Traditional Forms in Tonal, Serial and Atonal Styles (Jack Boss)
George Walker Papers
Total Immersion: Discovering George Walker
You don't play jazz? George Walker makes his own path (Curtis Institute of Music)
Composer's website . . . contact George Walker: here
George Walker @ Wikipedia
George Walker @ African American Registry
George Walker @ African Diaspora Project
George Walker @ American Piano Music
George Walker @ Audiophile Audition (via Google Search)
George Walker @ Black Past
George Walker @ Classic Cat
George Walker @ Classical Net
George Walker @ Classics for Kids
George Walker @ EBSCO
George Walker @ IMDb (Internet Movie Database)
George Walker @ Library of Congress
George Walker @ Lieder.net
George Walker @ Musicalics
George Walker @ MusicWeb International
George Walker @ Naxos
George Walker @ New Music USA
George Walker @ The New York Times
George Walker @ Oberlin College
George Walker @ Song of America
George Walker @ Strings also here
George Walker @ Wind Repertory Project
Publisher
George Walker @ Associated Music
George Walker @ Theodore Front Musical Literature
George Walker @ Galaxy Music
George Walker @ General Music
George Walker @ Lauren Keiser Music Publishing (LKMP)/Hal Leonard
George Walker @ MMB Music, Inc
Streaming Audio
George Walker @ American Archive of Public Broadcasting
George Walker @ Classical Archives
George Walker @ last.fm
George Walker @ PRX (Public Radio Exchange)
Recordings
George Walker @ AppleMusic
George Walker @ ArkivMusic
George Walker @ ClassicsToday
George Walker @ Discogs
George Walker @ Naxos
George Walker @ New World Records
Video
George Walker @ YouTube
George Walker @ Vimeo
George Walker @ Frank Schramm ("Discovering George Walker")
Walker on Walker: George Walker, composer (VIDEO)
Composers
Speak on the Web at Pytheas~ click on composer picture to listen ~
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