Research Guides: Music Library Thematic Displays: George Walker Collection

George Walker Display Case

DeVine Music Library Display Case featuring the George Walker collection and materials

Book(s) about George Walker in Our Collection

Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist by George Walker
Call Number: ML410.W278 A3 2009
In 1996, George Walker became the first black American to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. This accolade, awarded for his composition "Lilacs," was just one of many Walker has received: Walker has been inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame and has received six honorary doctoral degrees. Considered one of the most important American composers of the last century, Walker has produced works that rank among the finest in contemporary classical music.

In Reminiscences of an American Composer and Pianist, Walker recounts the most significant events in his life and distinguished career as a composer and a musician. Beginning with his childhood in Washington, D.C., Walker reflects on pivotal moments that shaped his development as an artist. He recalls his early childhood, his professional debut as a concert pianist, his studies in Europe, and his connections with some of the world's most famous musicians. Along the way he includes analyses of some of his most important works.

Score(s) by George Walker in Our Collection

Folk songs for Orchestra (1990)

Call Number: M1045 .W15 F6 1992

Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra (1995)

Call Number: M1614.W32 L5 1996

String Quartet No. 1 (1946)

Call Number: M452 .W179 no.1 2008

Sonata No. 1 for Piano (1953/rev. 1991)

Call Number: M23 .W24 no.1, 1991

Music for 3 for Piano Trio (1970/1991)

Call Number: M312.W179 M8 2008

Emily Dickinson Songs for High Voice and Piano (1986)

Call Number: M1621.W334 E4 1986

Picture of George Walker

Biography

(b. Washington, DC, June 27, 1922). American composer and pianist. He studied the piano as a child and later attended the Oberlin College Conservatory (BMus), the Eastman School of Music (DMA), the Curtis Institute of Music and the American Conservatory, Fontainebleau; his teachers included Nadia Boulanger, Robert Casadesus, Clifford Curzon and Rudolf Serkin. An accomplished pianist, he toured extensively both in the USA and abroad. His teaching appointments have included positions at Dillard University, the New School of Social Research, Smith College, the University of Colorado, Boulder and Rutgers University (1969–92). Among his honours are Fulbright, Whitney, Guggenheim, Rockefeller and MacDowell fellowships, an award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1982), a Pulitzer Prize (1996, for Lilacs), and commissions from orchestras such as the Boston SO and the New York PO.

George Walker completed his first major composition, the String Quartet no.1, in 1946. His mature style reflects the influence of serialism, but is also characterized by neo-classical forms and textures, engaging melodies, dramatic instrumental colouring, rhythmic complexity and frequent references to black folk idioms. Other influences include the music of Stravinsky, Schoenberg, Debussy and Ravel. Several of his works have been recorded. (1)

Citation:

Jr, G. (2001). Walker, George. Grove Music Online. Retrieved 27 Aug. 2020, from https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000029829.

Grove Music Online - "George Walker"
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