Symphony No. 1 in A-flat major "Afro-American Symphony"

The symphony unfolds in four movements, each headed by a line from a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar that hints at its mood.

I. Moderato assai: A solo horn, backed by muted strings, introduces a bent, blues-tinged melody built on the flatted third and seventh notes that give the blues its sound. A tenor banjo enters partway through, an unusual guest in a symphony orchestra, strumming chords under the strings.

II. Adagio: A slower, songful movement centered on a broad melody first heard in the strings, closer to a spiritual than a blues, with a warm, hymn-like glow that builds and recedes.

III. Animato: A scherzo, meaning a fast, playful movement, driven by syncopated rhythms borrowed from popular dance music of the 1920s. The banjo returns here, giving the music a rhythmic snap.

IV. Lento, con risoluzione: The finale opens slowly and searchingly before gathering into a confident, march-like conclusion. Listen for the blues theme from the first movement returning, transformed into something triumphant, as the symphony closes.

Still composed the Afro-American Symphony in 1930, drawing on his experience playing in dance bands and arranging popular music alongside his classical training. He wanted to write a symphony that used the blues, an idiom he considered a genuine American folk music, as serious symphonic material rather than novelty color. Each movement carries an epigraph from a poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar. The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Howard Hanson, premiered the work in Rochester, New York, in 1931. It became the first symphony by an African American composer to be performed by a leading American orchestra, and remains Still's most widely performed concert work.