Julian Cassander Work (September 25, 1910—June 15, 1995) was an arranger and composer. Work was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

to a family of professional musicians. His grandfather, John Wesley Work (1848-1923) was a composer and arranger for the

Fisk Jubilee Singers The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American ''a cappella'' ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditiona ...

; his father,

John Wesley Work Jr. John Wesley Work Jr. (August 6, 1871 – September 7, 1925) was the first African-American collector of folk songs and spirituals, and also a choral director, educationalist and songwriter. He is now sometimes known as John Wesley Work II, to di ...

(1871-1925) was the first African-American collector of folk songs and spirituals, and also a choral director, educator and songwriter; his brother

John Wesley Work III John Wesley Work III (July 15, 1901 – May 17, 1967) was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music. Biography He was born on July 15, 1901, in Tullahoma, Tennessee, to a family of pr ...

(1901-1967) was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music; his mother, Agnes Hayes Work, was a singer who also helped train the Fisk Jubilee Singers.Eileen Southern, ''Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musician'' (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982), p. 415. Work studied music with local teacher Mary E. Chamberlain and was involved in musical activities from an early age, participating in neighborhood musical groups and performing as a jazz pianist. Lucius R. Wyatt, "Composers Corner: Julian C. Work," ''Black Music Research Newsletter'' 8, no. 3, p. 5. He studied composition with his brother John Wesley Work III while attending

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

, where he majored in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

.William Burres Garcia and Willie Strong, "Work Family: Julian C(assander), Work," ''Grove Music Online''. (accessed 11 July 2021) By 1929 he had moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and was playing piano on the radio. He became a staff arranger for CBS Radio, becoming one of the first Black American composers to write music for radio and television. He was also the sole music arranger for the

Voice of Firestone ''The Voice of Firestone'' was a radio and television program of classical music. The show featured leading singers in selections from opera and operetta. Originally titled ''The Firestone Hour'', it was first broadcast on the NBC Radio network ...

on radio and television. Work married Kathryn Holliday in 1953. Upon his retirement they moved to Tolland, Massachusetts where he died.

Partial list of compositions

*Wanderlust (1938) *Myriorama by Night (orchestra, ca. 1946)"Anderson Booked with Philharmonic." Los Angeles Times, 3 February 1946 (article gives LA Philharmonic premiere of the work as 7 February 1946). *Portraits from the Bible (1956) *Autumn Walk (1957) *Processional Hymn (1957) *Driftwood Patterns (1961) *Stand the Storm (1963) *Reflections, Poems of Praise *Forest Images

References

External links

The CBS Collection of Manuscript Scores
in the Music Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (contains over 270 scores arranged and orchestrated by Julian Work)
Invisible No More: Julian Work
(blog post) {{DEFAULTSORT:Work, Julian 1910 births 1995 deaths African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American male classical composers American male classical composers Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee Fisk University alumni CBS people 20th-century African-American people