Poster William Dawson
A drawing of composer William Dawson in 1935 by Aaron Douglas.
Tuskegee University Archives
Performance Today®

William Dawson

Two decades after he wrote his Negro Folk Symphony, composer William Dawson traveled to West Africa. Based on what he heard there, he revised his music to convey “...the missing elements that were lost when Africans came into bondage outside their homeland." On today's show, hear Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony played by The Orchestra Now with conductor Leon Botstein.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Anton Arensky: String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, Op. 35: Movement 3 Finale
Kirsten Johnson, viola | Lynn Harrell and Zuill Bailey, cellos | Soovin Kim, violin
Album: Dohnanyi: Serenade In C Major - Arensky: String Quartet No. 2
Delos

William Dawson: Negro Folk Symphony: Movements 1 & 3
The Orchestra Now | Leon Botstein, conductor
Bard College - The Orchestra Now, The Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Zoe Cutler: Obstacle Illusion
Timothy McAllister, saxophone | Liz Ames, piano
Interlochen Presents, Dendrinos Chapel and Recital Hall, Interlochen, MI

Ludwig van Beethoven: Variations on an Original Theme in E-flat Major, Op. 44
Chien-Kim-Watkins Trio
String Theory at the Hunter, The Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN

Hour 2

Johann Vanhal: Concerto for Double Bass: Movement 3
Edicson Ruiz, double bass | Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra | Christian Vasquez, conductor
Album: Edicson Ruiz, Orquesta Sinfonica
Phil.harmonie 6008

Silvestre Revueltas: Sensemaya
Polish Radio Orchestra in Warsaw | Christian Vasquez, conductor
Witold Lutoslawski Polish Radio Concert Studio, Warsaw, Poland

Joseph Haydn: Piano Trio No. 39 in G Major, Hob. XV/25
Summit Piano Trio
The Henry Morrison Flagler Museum, Palm Beach, FL

Christopher Gunning: Symphony No. 10
Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra | Kenneth Woods, conductor
Colorado MahlerFest, Macky Auditorium, Boulder, CO

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