John Wesley Work III
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John Wesley Work III (July 15, 1901 – May 17, 1967) was a
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...
,
educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
, choral director,
musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
and scholar of
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
and music.


Biography

He was born on July 15, 1901, in
Tullahoma, Tennessee Tullahoma is a city in Coffee and Franklin counties in southern Middle Tennessee, United States. The population was 20,339 at the 2020 census. In 2019, the population was estimated to be 19,555. It is the principal city of the Tullahoma micropol ...
, to a family of professional musicians. His grandfather, John Wesley Work, was a
church choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...
director in
Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
, where he wrote and arranged music for his choirs. Some of his choristers were members of the original
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., was a singer, folksong collector and professor of music,
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, and history at Fisk, and his mother, Agnes Haynes Work, was a singer who helped train the Fisk group. His uncle, Frederick Jerome Work, also collected and arranged folksongs, and his brother, Julian, became a professional musician and composer. Work began his musical training at the Fisk University Laboratory School, moving on to the Fisk High School and then the university, where he received a
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree in 1923. After graduation, he attended the Institute of Musical Art in
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 ...
(now the
Juilliard School of Music The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
), where he studied with Gardner Lamson. He returned to Fisk and began teaching in 1927, spending summers in New York studying with Howard Talley and
Samuel Gardner Samuel Gardner (August 25, 1891, Kropyvnytskyi, Elizavetgrad – January 23, 1984) was an American composer and violinist of Russian Jewish origin. He won a Pulitzer prize with a string quartet in 1918. He was a student of Franz Kneisel and Percy ...
. In 1930 he received an
M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
degree from
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
with his thesis '' American Negro Songs and Spirituals''. He was awarded two Julius Rosenwald Foundation Fellowships for the years 1931 to 1933 and, using these to take two years leave from Fisk, he obtained a
B.Mus. Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or music school, conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consi ...
degree from
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in 1933. Work spent the remainder of his career at Fisk, until his retirement in 1966. He served in a variety of positions, notably as a teacher, chairman of the Fisk University Department of Music, and director of the Fisk Jubilee Singers from 1947 until 1956. He published articles in professional journals and dictionaries over a span of more than thirty years. His best known articles were "Plantation Meistersingers" in ''
The Musical Quarterly ''The Musical Quarterly'' is the oldest academic journal on music in America. Originally established in 1915 by Oscar Sonneck, the journal was edited by Sonneck until his death in 1928. Sonneck was succeeded by a number of editors, including Car ...
'' (Jan. 1940), and "Changing Patterns in Negro Folksongs" in the ''
Journal of American Folklore The ''Journal of American Folklore'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Folklore Society. Since 2003, this has been done on its behalf by the University of Illinois Press. The journal has been published since the society' ...
'' (Oct. 1940). In 1953, he was a member of the charter class of the Zeta Rho chapter of
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America (colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, Phi Mu Alpha, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music. The fraternity is open to men "w ...
fraternity, the national fraternity for men in music. The Fisk chapter was the third chapter of the Fraternity chartered at a historically black college or university, the first being chartered at
Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
in 1952. Work began composing while still in high school and continued throughout his career, completing over one hundred compositions in a variety of musical forms—for full
orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...
,
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
,
chamber ensemble Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...
,
violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
and
organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...
—but his largest output was in choral and solo-voice music. He was awarded first prize in the 1946 competition of the Federation of American Composers for his
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...
''The Singers'', and in 1947 he received an award from the
National Association of Negro Musicians The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc. is one of the oldest organizations in the United States dedicated to the preservation, encouragement, and advocacy of all genres of the music of African-Americans. NANM had its beginning on May 3, ...
. In 1963 he was awarded an
honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...
from Fisk University. Following Work's collection Negro Folk Songs, the bulk of which was recorded at Fort Valley, he and two colleagues from Fisk University, Charles S. Johnson, head of the department of
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 ...
(later, in October 1946, chosen as the university's first black president), and Lewis Jones, professor of sociology, collaborated with the
Archive of American Folk Song The Archive of Folk Culture (originally named The Archive of American Folk Song) was established in 1928 as the first national collection of American folk music in the United States of America. It was initially part of the Music Division of the Libr ...
on the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
/Fisk University Mississippi Delta Collection (AFC 1941/002). This project was a two-year joint field study conducted by the Library of Congress and Fisk University during the summers of 1941 and 1942. The goal of the partnership was to carry out an intensive field study documenting the folk culture of a specific community of
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
in the
Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo ...
region. The rapidly urbanizing commercial area of
Coahoma County, Mississippi Coahoma County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of the 2010 census, the population was 26,151. Its county seat is Clarksdale. The Clarksdale, MS Micropolitan Statistical Area includes all of Coahoma County. It is loc ...
, with its county seat in Clarksdale, became the
geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
focus of the study. Some of the correspondence included in this collection between Work and
Alan Lomax Alan Lomax (; January 31, 1915 – July 19, 2002) was an American ethnomusicologist, best known for his numerous field recordings of folk music of the 20th century. He was also a musician himself, as well as a folklorist, archivist, writer, sch ...
, then head of the Archive of American Folk Song, touches on both the Fort Valley and the emerging Fisk University recording projects. The legendary
Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
was first recorded as part of this project. John Wesley Work died on May 17, 1967.


Musical works

*''Yenvalou'' for orchestra (1946) *''Sassafras'', pieces for piano (1946) *''Scuppernong (1951) *''Appalachia'' (1954) *''From the Deep South'' (1936) *''The Singers'',
cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...
s (1941) *''Isaac Watts Contemplates the Cross'' (1962)


Other works

Arrangements for S. A. T. B. of several collected Christian folk songs of the 1860s, first appearing in print in the early 1900s, and published in 1948 by Work through 'Galaxy Music Corp', NY. Galaxy Music was sold to E. C. Schirmer Music Company in 1989.https://www.ecspublishing.com/about-us *''This Little Light O' Mine'' with solo unaccompanied *''Jesus, Lay Your Head in the Window'' for high voice with piano accompaniment *''Done Made My Vow to the Lord'' for chorus of mixed voices, with tenor *''Go Tell It on the Mountain (Christmas)'' for mixed voices or junior choir, also versions for treble and male voices *''Little Black Train'' for chorus of mixed voices, with mezzo-soprano and tenor *''Lord, I'm Out Here on Your Word'' with tenor voice solo *''Railroad Bill'' for male chorus *''Listen to the Angels Shouting'' for women's chorus, with contralto solo


External links


Library of Congress: John Wesley Work III


References

* Southern, Eileen. ''The Music of Black Americans: A History''. W. W. Norton & Company; 3rd edition. {{DEFAULTSORT:Work III, John Wesley 1901 births 1967 deaths 20th-century classical composers African-American classical composers American classical composers African-American male classical composers 20th-century African-American male singers American male classical composers 20th-century American educators People from Tullahoma, Tennessee American folklorists Fisk University alumni Columbia University alumni Singers from Tennessee Fisk University faculty 20th-century American composers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American musicologists 20th-century American male singers