I. Moderato assai The first movement,
moderato assai (very moderate), contains a typical
twelve-bar blues progression. Still titled this movement 'Longing' in his notebook. This opening
theme (which Gershwin's "Summertime' resembles) (how?) expands into the first of two main themes of the movement, and it returns various times throughout the first, second, and third movements. This theme – theme 1 – shown below, is first played by the trumpet and uses classic blues harmonies and melodic progressions. ) Theme 1 repeats at measure 19, this time played by the clarinet, and the flutes interrupt each small phrase within the theme with their own
counter-melody that contrasts with the theme in its straight (not
swung) rhythms. Still then takes small motifs of theme 1 and develops them, transitioning into theme 2, in G major, played by the oboe, starting at measure 45. Theme 2 continues to develop, and its melody returns with the cello section. The ending motifs of theme 2 expand into a loud exciting march-like development section with the snare drum that contrasts with both themes in that it is very rhythmical. This section leads right back to theme 2, but this time in a minor key. The minor key gives this section a much more longing and lamenting feeling. The lamenting mood does not last very long, as theme 1 returns shortly after, ending the movement. Each movement is accompanied by excerpts from four poems by
Paul Laurence Dunbar, who used Negro dialect in these. The quotations are used as
epigraphs for each movement and illustrate Still's intentions in composing the symphony. The epigraph for Movement 1 is from Dunbar's "Twell de Night Is Pas'": :All de night long twell de moon goes down, :Lovin' I set at huh feet, :Den fu' de long jou'ney back f'om de town, :Ha'd, but de dreams mek it sweet. The end of the first movement is accompanied with the following quote: :All my life long twell de night has pas' :Let de wo'k come ez it will, :So dat I fin' you, my honey, at last, :Somewhaih des ovah de hill.
II. Adagio The second movement,
adagio (meaning broadly and slow), titled "Sorrow" in Still's "Rashana" notebook, contains related themes from the first movement, but in a
spiritual style. The movement is more
chromatic than the first and employs less
functional chord progressions. The epigraph of the second movement is from "W'en I Gits Home," and reflects the spiritual melody: :It's moughty tiahsome layin' 'roun' :Dis sorer-laden erfly groun', :An' oftentimes I thinks, thinks I, :'T would be a sweet t'ing des to die, :An go 'long home.
III. Animato The third movement,
Animato was assigned the title "Humor" by Still in "Rashana." The key center for this movement is again A-flat. The movement has two major themes, each with two prevailing
variations. In measure eight, theme 1A, "Hallelujah," begins (shown below). This theme is accompanied by a counter-melody in the horns which resembles
Gershwin's "
I Got Rhythm" (this premiered on October 14, 1930). The counter-melody is expressed by the horns in measures 8–11 and by the flute and oboe in measures 12–15. Theme 2A (shown below) is played by a mixture of low strings and winds (i.e. cello, trombone, etc.) and contrasts with theme 1 in that it is
fanfare-like; it interrupts theme 1 whenever it comes in. This movement, when performed by the
Kansas City Philharmonic under
Karl Krueger in 1938, had such an effect on the audience and musicians that Krueger had to interrupt the concert and repeat the movement. This movement is based on the poem, "An Ante-Bellum Sermon" by Dunbar, which is about
emancipation and citizenship of the blacks in America. The lines quoted by Still in the score are as follows: :An' we'll shout ouah halleluyahs, :On dat mighty reck'nin' day.
IV. Lento, con risoluzione The fourth movement,
lento, con risoluzione, or as Still titled it in "Rashana," "Aspiration," begins with a
hymn-like section, and continues on in a
modal fashion, eventually ending with an upbeat and lively finale. This movement, ultimately in F minor, avoids traditional progressions from the dominant to the tonic (V-I). The opening contains no suggestion of
modulation and has no
authentic cadences, producing a sense of ambiguity of the tonic. The slow modal sections that follow the opening are centered on E natural, so by the time these slow sections are interrupted by passages in F minor, the use of E natural as a
leading tone has been downplayed. In the finale, a V to I progression is avoided entirely, and the bass moves from an F to a D-flat, resembling
Dvořák's
New World Symphony. The following epigraph, from Dunbar's poem "
Ode to Ethiopia," follows with the fourth movement: :Be proud, my Race, in mind and soul, :Thy name is writ on Glory's scroll :In characters of fire. :High 'mid the clouds of Fame's bright sky, :Thy banner's blazoned folds now fly, :And truth shall lift them higher. == Instrumentation ==