Synopsis

On today’s date in 1940, the “Standing Room Only” signs went up early as a crowd of 23,000 stormed the Hollywood Bowl to hear the great Paul Robeson perform.

On the program was Earl Robinson’s Ballad for Americans, a work for solo voice and orchestra that was for a time one of the most popular musical works in America. Earl Robinson had studied with Copland, and in 1934 had joined the Federal Theater Project. His Ballad for Americans quickly became a popular concert hall vehicle for Robeson, and, in election year 1940, it was even performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Republican Party’s National Convention. Robeson made a famous recording of the work, but nowadays Ballad for Americans is seldom, if ever, heard or performed.

Also on the Hollywood Bowl’s program for July 23, 1940, was the first complete West Coast performance of William Grant Still’s Symphony No. 1, the Afro-American Symphony. Still had settled in Los Angeles to work for the film industry, but by 1940 had also achieved fame as the country’s foremost African-American composer of concert music. Unlike Ballad for Americans, the Afro American Symphony still shows up on concert programs these days.

Music Played in Today's Program

William Grant Still (1895-1978): Symphony No. 1 (Afro-American); Detroit Symphony; Neeme Järvi, conductor; Chandos 9154