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Chapter 49
William Grant Still
Songs of Separation
Chapter at a Glance
Listen to This First
Chromatic Harmony
Historical Context: The Harlem Renaissance
Melody: A Touch of Blue
Connect Your Playlist: Through-Composed Form
Through-Composed Form
Profile: William Grant Still (1895 1978)
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter and listening to the work, students should be able to:
Songs of Separation as an art
song in the tradition of the German Lied, but with a poem from the Harlem
Renaissance.
Key Concepts
blues inflections, chromatic harmony, through-composed form
Chapter Highlight: Art Song
The art song in the twentieth century took on the inflections of many different styles.
elements of the blues.
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Chapter Summary
Songs of Separation is an example of an art song: a
musical setting of a serious poem for solo voice and piano in the tradition of the German Lied.
Schoenberg used a similar image in his Pierrot lunaire. This time, Pierrot is black and instead of
Still uses a chromatic harmony in this song. Hearers are not shocked with sharp
dissonance, but neither can they rest easily for any length of time because the shifting moods of
Listening Guide
The through- ening Guide.
Using the text as a guide, students can focus on how Still employs harmony and range of
melodic line as markers of each section.
MyMusicLab Resources
Automated Listening Guide Songs of
Separation
Chapter Audio: Chapter 49
Discussion Topics and Critical Thinking Questions
1. from Songs of Separation invites comparison with several pieces
included in Listen to This!. These include: the use of Pierrot as a subject (Schoenberg, Chapter
44), musicians of the Harlem Renaissance (Ellington, Chapter 45), and accompanied song
(Schubert, Chapter 27).
2. Ask students to consider their own backgrounds, places of origin, and other defining
characteristics. Because of these aspects of their lives, are there social expectations? For
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Activities and Exercises
1. Invite someone to come to class for an interview who lived during the middle of the twentieth
century and before the civil rights movement. What kinds of expectations did society place on
African Americans?
2. Explore the character of Pierrot. What are the traditions associated with him? Why did
twentieth-century composers turn to him as a subject?
Journaling Prompt
William Grant Still was confronted with issues of race throughout his life. He remarked
once that when he wrote in the modern European style of his teacher Varèse, some