The October 2022 issue of Choral Journal is online and features an article titled “George Walker: His Story, His Song, His Legacy” by Vinroy D. Brown, Jr. This article highlights the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth in 2022. Following is a portion from the introduction.
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The year 2022 marks the anniversary of several composers and musical works. As these historic moments are recalled, it is incumbent upon the greater choral community to elevate the names and music of our underrepresented artists. Among the celebrations is the 100th anniversary of the birth of George Walker, the first African American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize in Music. Over the course of his lifetime, George Walker produced a number of sacred and secular works, encompassing an extensive range of styles, for instruments and voice alike. The diversity of his musical voice is representative of the depth and breadth of music from the African American experience, and his work is worthy of exploration for his unique contribution to music of the twentieth century.
George Walker’s compositional output includes over 100 works for a variety of ensembles in multiple styles. Walker’s earliest music is for instrumental makeup and then expands to include voice. Listening to his instrumental work Spatials for Piano brings to the forefront a clear use of twelve-tone writing. His monumental Mass is a complex work that has spanned some of his most virtuosic compositional output, including neo-romantic and classical tendencies, among other contemporary styles. The two settings presented in this survey are not representative of his complete compositional makeup but offer a survey of two small works.
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Read the full article in the October 2022 issue of Choral Journal. acda.org/choraljournal
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