Music for Martin Luther King Day
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday morning at nine we will feature three works by three composers of African Heritage who composed and/or performed from the late 18th through the mid 20th century.
Music by African American composer, Grant Still, will be a part of our MLK Day celebration.
These performances will feature the Chicago Sinfonietta and
The Encore Chamber Orchestra, organizations which have promoted young musicians
and composers of diverse backgrounds since 1987.
First up is a selection from the album Violin Concertos by Black Composers of the 18th & 19th Centuries. It’s by the Chevalier de Maude-Monpas about whom little is known except that he was born in Paris and died in Berlin and was a member of King Louis XVI’s Musketeers. His Violin Concerto #4 in D Major dates from 1786 and is performed by violinist Rachel Barton Pine with the Encore Chamber Orchestra.
We’ll also feature one of the best known compositions of African-American composer William Grant Still (1895-1978), his Symphony #1 from 1930 subtitled the “Afro-American” - and then close the hour before our Inauguration coverage begins with a musical tribute to Martin Luther King Jr from contemporary American composer Adolphus Cunningham Hailstork (b. 1941). His Epitaph for a Man Who Dreamed was composed in 1979.
That's music in celebration of Martin Luther King Day from 9 - 10 am, prior to special Inauguration coverage from NPR
