Categories
20th Century American

WALKER, George

George Walker
Photograph of George Walker courtesy of the composer's website

Born in Washington, DC, June 27, 1922 
Died in Montclair, NJ, Aug 23, 2018 

  • Walker studied at Oberlin, Eastman, and Curtis. His teachers included Nadia Boulanger, Rudolf Serkin, and Robert Casadesus.1
    • Walker began studying at Oberlin at the age of 14, becoming the institution’s youngest student.
    • Walker was also the first Black student to earn a doctorate at Eastman in 1956.2
  • Walker had a distinguished academic career; his longest appointment was at Rutgers University from 1969-92.3
    • The stability Walker found in academia paved the way for greater capacity to compose. However, it came at a cost. He had originally pursued a career as a concert pianist but found consistent work too hard to come by due to institutional racism.4
  • Among his many professional honors, George Walker was the first African-American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1996 for his vocal and orchestral piece Lilacs.5
  • As a composer, Walker wrote most extensively for string instruments, though his oeuvre also includes concertos for trombone and piano, piano sonatas, sinfonias, brass and wind quintets, song cycles, and more.
  • Walker cannot easily be associated with other composers because his music is so distinctive. He wrote each piece to be unique, without any resemblance to a previous work.
    • He also frequently quoted spirituals, Jazz, and folk music in his works, but only with incredible subtlety.6

Learn More

Composer’s website
Obituary article from NPR

Sources

  1. Guthrie P. Ramsey, “Walker, George,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed August 12, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000029829. 
  2. Elizabeth de Brito, “Composer of the Week: George Walker,” BBC Music Magazine Vol. 30, No. 10 (2022), 60-63.
  3. Guthrie P. Ramsey, “Walker, George,” Grove Music Online.
  4. Elizabeth de Brito, “Composer of the Week: George Walker,” BBC Music Magazine.
  5. “Biographical Information,” George Walker, accessed August 12, 2021, http://georgetwalker.com/bio.html. 
  6. Elizabeth de Brito, “Composer of the Week: George Walker,” BBC Music Magazine.

Pieces