Verna Arvey (February 16, 1910 – November 22, 1987) was an American librettist, pianist and writer who is best known for her musical collaborations with her husband

William Grant Still William Grant Still Jr. (May 11, 1895 – December 3, 1978) was an American composer of nearly two hundred works, including five symphonies, four ballets, nine operas, over thirty choral works, plus art songs, chamber music and works fo ...

, a musician and composer.

Early life and education

Verna Arvey was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, the daughter of Bessie (Tark) and David Arvey. Her parents were Russian Jewish immigrants."William Grant Still and Verna Arvey Papers"
University of Arkansas. She attended local schools and the

Manual Arts High School Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high sch ...

. She had started playing piano as a child. After graduating, Arvey enjoyed a brief career as a concert pianist, including performances as a soloist with Raymond Paige's

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

Network orchestra and the

Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra The Los Angeles Philharmonic, commonly referred to as the LA Phil, is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the ...

. Avery met William Grant Still in 1930, when Still travelled to Los Angeles to revive his friendship with the composer Harold Bruce Forsythe. Forsythe likely asked her to read some of his piano music. Still tried twice to get her to perform his pieces, first ''Africa'', then ''Four Negro Dances''. The two became more acquainted, but as Forsythe and Arvey had been friends for many years (since they had both gone to Manual Arts High School), some jealousy ensued.

Marriage and family

Arvey married Still in 1939. She was of Russian Jewish heritage and Still was

African American 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 ...

, but their interracial union (unusual for a high-profile couple of the era) did not appear to damage their careers. The couple had two children. They were married until Still's death in 1978. Arvey's granddaughter is journalist

Celeste Headlee Celeste Headlee (born December 30, 1969) is an American radio journalist, author, public speaker, and co-host of the weekly series ''Retro Report on PBS.'' In her 20-year career in public radio, Headlee has served as the host of the Georgia Publi ...

Musical career

Arvey's first collaboration with Still came in 1939 when Langston Hughes, the original librettist for his opera ''

Troubled Island ''Troubled Island'' is an American opera in three acts composed by William Grant Still, with a libretto begun by poet Langston Hughes and completed by Verna Arvey. She married the composer following their collaboration. Set in Haiti in 179 ...

,'' left the country before the project was completed. Arvey wrote the lyrics for three arias. She became the librettist for his subsequent operatic work, most notably '' A Bayou Legend,'' ''A Southern Interlude,'' ''Costaso'' and ''Mota.'' As a writer on music, Arvey published articles for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and several music industry publications, including '' Etude'', ''

Musical Courier The ''Musical Courier'' was a weekly 19th- and 20th-century American music trade magazine that began publication in 1880. The publication included editorials, obituaries, announcements, scholarly articles and investigatory writing about musical ...

,'' ''

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

,'' '' Concert and Symphony,'' ''

Musical America ''Musical America'' is the oldest American magazine on classical music, first appearing in 1898 in print and in 1999 online, at musicalamerica.com. It is published by Performing Arts Resources, LLC, of East Windsor, New Jersey. History 1898–19 ...

,'' ''Chesterian'' (London), '' American Dancer,'' ''Ritmo'' (Madrid), '' Musical Digest'' and ''

American Mercury ''The American Mercury'' was an American magazine published from 1924Staff (Dec. 31, 1923)"Bichloride of Mercury."''Time''. to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured wri ...

''.

Works

She also wrote books, including the following: *1939 monograph, ''Studies of Contemporary American Composers: William Grant Still'' *1941, ''Choreographic Music'' *1984, biography of her late husband, ''In One Lifetime'' (Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press).

References

External links

William Grant Still Music
site with comprehensive information about him and his music

Transcript, African American Music Collection,

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

"William Grant Still; Composer, Arranger, Conductor & Oboist"
Extensive info at AfriClassical.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Arvey, Verna 1910 births 1987 deaths American lyricists Journalists from California Jewish American writers Jewish American musicians American opera librettists Writers from Los Angeles American writers about music Musicians from Los Angeles Women opera librettists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Women writers about music 20th-century American musicians Songwriters from California American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American Jews