George Theophilus Walker (June 27, 1922 – August 23, 2018) was an American composer, pianist, and organist, and the first African American to win the

Pulitzer Prize for Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted ...

, which he received for his work ''

Lilacs The Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (in Portuguese), acronym LILACS, and previously called Latin American Index Medicus,Piegas MH, Nowinski A. Index Medicus Latino-Americano: exemplo de cooperação técnica entre pa ...

'' in 1996.De Lerma, Dominique-Rene
"African Heritage Symphonic Series"
Liner note essay.

Cedille Records Cedille Records () is the independent record label of the Chicago Classical Recording Foundation. History In 1989, James Ginsburg, the son of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, founded Cedille Records as a for-profit c ...

CDR061. Walker was married to pianist and scholar Helen Walker-Hill (May 26, 1936 – August 8, 2013) between 1960 and 1975. Walker was the father of two sons, violinist and composer Gregory T.S. Walker and playwright Ian Walker.

Biography

Walker was first exposed to music at the age of five when he began to play the piano. He was admitted to the

Oberlin Conservatory The Oberlin Conservatory of Music is a private music conservatory in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1865 and is the second oldest conservatory and oldest continually operating conservatory in the United States. It is one of ...

at 14, and later to the Curtis Institute of Music to study piano with

Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in ...

, chamber music with

William Primrose William Primrose CBE (23 August 19041 May 1982) was a Scottish violist and teacher. He performed with the London String Quartet from 1930 to 1935. He then joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra where he formed the Primrose Quartet. He performed i ...

and

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian Empire-born American cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a child, he ...

, and composition with

Rosario Scalero Natale Rosario Scalero (24 December 1870 in Moncalieri - 25 December 1954 in Montestrutto) was an Italian violinist, music teacher and composer. Life and career By the age of six, Scalero was under the tutelage of Pietro Bertazzi, a violinis ...

, teacher of Samuel Barber. He received his doctorate from the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music ...

at the

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...

. Walker taught at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

in New Jersey for several years, retiring in 1992. Walker's first major orchestral work was the ''Address for Orchestra''. His ''

Lyric for Strings ''Lyric for Strings'' is a musical composition written by the American composer George Walker George Walker may refer to: Arts and letters * George Walker (chess player) (1803–1879), English chess player and writer *George Walker (composer) ( ...

'' is his most performed orchestral work. He composed many works including five sonatas for piano, a mass, cantata, many songs, choral works, organ pieces, sonatas for cello and piano, violin and piano and viola and piano, a

brass quintet A brass quintet is a five-piece musical ensemble composed of brass instruments. The instrumentation for a brass quintet typically includes two trumpets or cornets, one French horn, one trombone or euphonium/baritone horn, and one tuba or bass t ...

and a

woodwind quintet A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players (most commonly flute, oboe, clarinet, French horn and bassoon). Unlike the string quartet (of 4 string instruments) with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the in ...

. He published over 90 works and received commissions from the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

Boston Symphony The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra, based in Cleveland, is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the " Big Five". Founded in 1918 by the pianist and impresario Adella Prentiss Hughes, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Se ...

, Philadelphia Orchestra, and many other ensembles. He was the recipient of six honorary doctoral degrees. Walker was the father of two sons, violinist and composer Gregory Walker, and playwright Ian Walker. He died on August 23, 2018 in

Montclair, New Jersey Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. ...

at the age of 96.

Awards and recognition

In 1996, Walker became the first black composer to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his work, ''Lilacs'' for voice and orchestra, premiered by the Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa conducting. Washington, D.C. Mayor

Marion Barry Marion Shepilov Barry (born Marion Barry Jr.; March 6, 1936 – November 23, 2014) was an American politician who served as the second and fourth mayor of the District of Columbia from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999. A Democrat, Barry had served ...

proclaimed June 17, 1997, as "George Walker Day" in the nation's capital. In 1997, Walker was awarded the

Order of the Long Leaf Pine The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, created in 1964, is an honor that can be granted in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of 2021, it was believed the Order had been awarded to more than 21,000 people. The Order The Order of the Long Leaf Pine is ...

North Carolina Governor The governor of North Carolina is the head of government of the U.S. state of North Carolina. The governor directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander in chief of the military forces of the state. The current governor, ...

Jim Hunt. In 1998, he received the Composers Award from the Lancaster Symphony and the letter of Distinction from the American Music Center for "his significant contributions to the field of contemporary American Music". He was elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

in 1999. The following year, George Walker was inducted into the

American Classical Music Hall of Fame The American Classical Music Hall of Fame and Museum is a non-profit organization celebrating past and present individuals and institutions that have made significant contributions to classical music—"people who have contributed to American musi ...

. alker Autobiography, p. 164 Over the next several years, he received the Dorothy Maynor Outstanding Arts Citizen Award (2000), Classical Roots Award from the Detroit Symphony (2001), the A.I. Dupont Award from the Delaware Symphony (2002) the Washington Music Hall of Fame (2002), and the Aaron Copland ASCAP Award (2012). He was the recipient of two Guggenheim Fellowships,Scarlet Letter 1924 (Rutgers University yearbook), Special Collections and University Archives, Rutgers University Libraries. two Rockefeller Fellowships, a

Fromm Foundation Paul Fromm (September 28, 1906 – July 4, 1987) was a Jewish Chicago wine merchant and performing arts patron through the Fromm Music Foundation. The ''Organum for Paul Fromm'' was composed by John Harbison in his honor. Early life Born in Kitz ...

commission, two Koussevitsky Awards, and an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, as well as honorary doctorate degrees from Lafayette College (1982), Oberlin College (1983), Bloomfield College (1996), Montclair State University(1997), Curtis Institute of Music (1997), Spelman College (2001), and the Eastman School of Music where he gave the Commencement Address (2012). His autobiography, ''Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist'', was released in 2009 by Scarecrow Press.

Music

Walker's music was influenced by a wide variety of musical styles including jazz, folk songs, and church hymns, as well as classical music. Unwilling to conform to a specific style, Walker drew from his diverse knowledge of previous music to create something which he could call his own. While a work such as ''Spatials for Piano'' uses twelve-tone serial techniques, Walker could also compose in the style of popular music such as in his song “Leaving.” According to Mickey Terry, traces of old black spirituals can also be found in his Violin Sonata No. 2. D. Maxine Sims has stated that Walker's piano technique is also reflected in his works, such as his ''Piano Sonata No. 2''. This sonata contains changing meters, syncopation, and

bitonal Polytonality (also polyharmony) is the musical use of more than one key simultaneously. Bitonality is the use of only two different keys at the same time. Polyvalence or polyvalency is the use of more than one harmonic function, from the same key, ...

writing which all present great challenges for a performer to overcome. BBC Radio 3 devoted five hours to Walker's music as "Composer of the Week" in October, 2021.

Major compositions

Walker's '' oeuvre'' includes the following works: * ''A Red, Red Rose for Voice and Piano'' * ''Abu for Narrator and Chamber Ensembles'' (Network for New Music commission) * ''Address for Orchestra'' * ''An Eastman Overture'' (Eastman School of Music commission) * ''Antifonys for Chamber Orchestra'' * ''Bleu for Unaccompanied Violin'' * ''Cantata for Soprano, Tenor, Boys Choir, and Chamber Orchestra'' (Boys Choir of Harlem commission) * ''Canvas for Wind Ensemble and Narrator'' (College Band Directors National Association commission) * ''Cello Concerto'' (New York Philharmonic commission) * ''Concerto for Piano and Orchestra'' (National Endowment for the Arts Commission) * ''Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra'' (1957) * ''Concerto for Violin and Orchestra'' * ''Da Camera'' (Musica Reginae commission) * ''Dialogus for Cello and Orchestra'' (Cleveland Orchestra commission) * ''Emily Dickinson Songs'' * ''Five Fancies for Clarinet and Piano Four Hands'' (David Ensemble commission) * ''Foils for Orchestra (Hommage a Saint George'') (Eastman School of Music commission) * ''Folk Songs for Orchestra'' * ''Guido's Hand'' (Xerox commission) * ''Hommage to Saint George'' (Eastman School of Music commission) * ''Hoopla: A Touch of Glee'' * ''Icarus In Orbit'' * ''In Praise of Folly'' * ''

for Voice and Orchestra'' * ''

'' * ''Mass for Soloists, Chorus, and Orchestra'' (National Endowment for the Arts commission) * ''Modus'' (Cygnus Ensemble commission) * ''Movements for Cello and Orchestra'' * ''Music for 3'' * ''Music for Brass (Sacred and Profane)'' * ''Music for Two Pianos'' * ''Nine Songs for Voice and Piano'' * ''Orpheus for Narrator and Chamber Orchestra'' * ''Overture: In Praise of Folly'' * ''Pageant and Proclamation'' (New Jersey Symphony commission) * ''Perimeters for Clarinet and Piano'' * ''Piano Sonata No. 1'' * ''Piano Sonata No. 2'' * ''Piano Sonata No. 3'' * ''Piano Sonata No. 4'' * ''Piano Sonata No. 5'' * ''Poem for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble'' (National Endowment for the Arts commission) * ''Poeme for Violin and Orchestra'' (Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra premiere) * ''Psalms for Chorus'' * ''Serenata for Chamber Orchestra'' (Michigan Chamber Orchestra commission) * ''Sinfonia No. 1'' (Fromm Foundation commission) * ''Sinfonia No. 2'' (Koussevitsky commission) * ''Sinfonia No. 3'' * ''Sinfonia No. 4'' * ''Sinfonia No. 5 "Visions"'' (two versions, one with voices and one without) *''Sonata for Cello and Piano'' * ''Sonata for Two Pianos'' * ''Sonata for Viola and Piano'' * ''Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1'' * ''Spatials for Piano'' * ''Spektra for Piano'' * ''Spires for Organ'' * ''String Quartet No. 1'' * ''String Quartet No. 2'' * ''Tangents for Chamber Orchestra'' (Columbus Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra commission) * ''Three Pieces for Organ'' * ''Two Pieces for Organ'' * ''Variations for Orchestra'' * ''Violin and Piano Sonata No. 2'' * ''Windset for Woodwind Quintet''

References

External links

George Walker official website A 2017 Conversation with George Walker (includes video excerpts)2012 George Walker interview by Ethan Iverson

at AfriClassical.com
George Walker, Composer
Documentary produced by

NJTV NJ PBS (known as NJTV prior to 2021) is a public television network serving the U.S. state of New Jersey. The network is owned by the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (NJPBA), an agency of the New Jersey state government which owns t ...

George Walker Collection
at the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library
'Ep. 35: Legendary Pulitzer Prize winning American composer George Walker'
Interview by Tigran Arakelyan {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, George 1922 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical composers African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American male classical composers American male classical composers Curtis Institute of Music alumni Eastman School of Music alumni Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Oberlin College alumni Pulitzer Prize for Music winners Pupils of Rosario Scalero Albany Records artists 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American people Musicians from Washington, D.C.