Where the Lilacs Grow

When is a war over? When a government says it is so? When the generals agree with a gentleman's handshake and say with a photoshoot smile, "Good game, guys!" When the general populace loses interest and simply walks away, first pretending then forgetting of the landmines left beneath their feet?

Not so easy, of course. The Civil War never really stopped, it merely shifted. From explosions on a battlefield to covert slinking, Confederate flags hung not quite hidden in the hearts of Real Americans™, a pipeline lay enough out of sight that the well-meaning white can say, "No, but I didn't see!" Then finally, with a cry through choked throats, the African Americans rise again en masse and lays bare again the cankerous boil in the soul of America, then, through every media outlet available, the quailing powers that be point at the protesters and shout, "Sic sempre tyrannis!" and the police march like a military, shooting in the name of.

The protests continue. In the face of plague and poverty and police brutality, the protests continue.

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Today's composer is George Walker (1922-2018). It is always sad to learn of a composer only because they died, but that is how his name first came to me. While in high school, Mr. Walker attended Howard University, which hosted his first piano recital. He then attended Oberlin Conservatory, and completed his early musical education at the Curtis Institute of Music, becoming one of the first black graduates from the music program. He eventually went on to become the first black person to receive a Doctorate in Music from Eastman School of music.

Mr. Walker was beyond a formidable pianist. Not long after his New York debut recital, he performed Rachmaninov's 3rd Piano Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy. In 1950, he became the first black musician signed on by major management with the National Concert Artists, and he embarked on numerous tours across Europe. His teaching career is no less impressive, having held professorships at Dalcroze School of music, the New School for Social Research, Smith College, University of Boulder, Rutgers University, Peabody Institute of John Hopkins, and the University of Delaware.

The piece I am sharing, Lilacs, is also the first composition awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music to an African American. The text is drawn from Walt Whitman's poem, "When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd," written as an elegy to Abraham Lincoln.