William L. Dawson (composer)

Dawson's arrangements of traditional African-American spirituals are widely published in the United States and are regularly performed by school, college and community choral programs. According to Dominique-René de Lerma of Lawrence University, in notes to "The Spirituals of William L. Dawson" produced by The St Olaf Choir in 1997, "What is even more striking than the richness of Dawson's textures is the lushness of his sonorities, exhibiting his remarkable insight into vocal potentials."

In November of 1934, Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony was premiered by the Philadelphia Orchestra under the leadership of Leopold Stokowski. Dawson's goal was to write a symphony in the Negro Folk Idiom, and in the symphonic form used by European composers of the Romantic-Nationalist School(Dawson). He was greatly inspired by Dvorak and his views on nationalism in music. The entire work mirrors the Negro Spiritual.  The symphony was a huge success and it garnered a great deal of attention from many critics. The success was however short lived. After 4 back-to-back performances in November, Dawson receded from the headlines, and the symphony was put to rest for 18 years. In 1952, Dawson revised the symphony adding in rhythms he heard while on his trip to West Africa. This new version was recorded by Stokowski and the American Symphony Orchestra in 1963.

The piece was did not receive a public performance for decades. In June 2020, the piece was recorded by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. It was revived and performed by both the Seattle Symphony (conducted by Roderick Cox, a champion of the work) and Oregon Symphony in 2022, then again in early 2023 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic (with Cox conducting) and the Oakland Symphony. A live recording of the Seattle Symphony's performance was released in 2023 alongside works by George Walker. Then, on February 2, 2023, the symphony was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra making it 5th live performance since its premiere, under director Yannick Nezet Seguin.

I. The Bond of Africa

Dawson, William, 1952. Negro Folk Symphony, The Bond of Africa. Jpeg. SHAWNEE PRESS, INC. 2023

In this first movement, Dawson uses original melodies in the style of spirituals for the first theme, and for the second theme, he quotes melodies from actual spirituals. According to the composer "a link was taken out of a human chain when the first African was taken from the shores of his native land and sent into slavery. This missing link is represented by a French Horn motif that opens the first movement. This motif can be heard in all three movements of the symphony.

II. Hope in the Night

This second movement is the heart of the symphony. It is a heavy movement that gives listeners the space to feel all of the turmoil and pain that African slaves had to endure. It opens with 3 soft strokes of a gong, followed by a melody played by the English Horn. According to the composer, this is meant to represent an "atmosphere of the humdrum life of a people whose bodies were baked by the sun and lashed with the whip for two hundred and fifty years; whose lives were prescribed before they were born". He uses original melodies for all of the themes of the second movement. After a big swell to its full climax, the music fades into the distance and the drumbeat continues. The slow fade out meant to represent a struggle that never came to a resolution.

III. O Let Me Shine! (“O Le’ Me Shine, Shine Like a Mornin’ Star!”)

For all themes within this movement, Dawson quotes actual spirituals. This movement moves quickly from one idea to the next. In the 2023 performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra, a bell was struck repeatedly towards the end to represent church bells tolling, a prominent motif within African American history. The symphony ends on an ominous note, providing the listener with a sense of incompletion, again meant to represent an unresolved struggle.

This is the bell that was used by the Philadelphia Orchestra during the third movement of Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony. It is meant to represent church bells tolling.