On today’s date in 1930,  Howard Hanson led the premiere performance of the full orchestral version of William Grant Still’s symphonic poem, “Africa” at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York.

Still had originally conceived “Africa” as a chamber work, dedicated to and premiered by the great French flutist Georges Barrère earlier that same year.

In a letter to Barrère, Still said that his new work depicted “the Africa of my imagination,” explaining “An American Negro has formed a concept of the land of his ancestors based largely on its folklore, and influenced by his contact with American civilization. He beholds in his mind’s eye not the Africa of reality, but an Africa mirrored in fancy, and radiantly ideal.”

That said, the Africa of Still’s imagination included not only serene, pastorale moments, but also – according to Still’s wife – the surfacing of “unspoken fears and lurking terrors.”

In its revised full symphonic version, Still’s “Africa” proved successful recalls the exotic colors of Rimksy-Korsakov’s reimagined pagan Russia, and as an orchestral showpiece proved successful in subsequent performances in Europe, but, for some reason known only to Still himself, his tone poem “Africa” remained unpublished during his lifetime.

William Grant Still (1895-1978): "Land of Romance" and "Land of Superstition," fr "Africa (Fort Smith ASym; John Jeter, cond.) Naxos 8.559174