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Julian Cassander Work (September 25, 1910—June 15, 1995) was an arranger and composer.

Work was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to a family of professional musicians. His grandfather, John Wesley Work (1848-1923) was a composer and arranger for the Fisk Jubilee Singers; his father, John Wesley Work Jr. (1871-1925) was the first African-American collector of folk songs and spirituals, and also a choral director, educator and songwriter; his brother John Wesley Work III (1901-1967) was a composer, educator, choral director, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music; his mother, Agnes Hayes Work, was a singer who also helped train the Fisk Jubilee Singers.[1]

Work studied music with local teacher Mary E. Chamberlain and was involved in musical activities from an early age, participating in neighborhood musical groups and performing as a jazz pianist.[2][1] He studied composition with his brother John Wesley Work III while attending Fisk University, where he majored in sociology.[2][3] By 1929 he had moved to New York City and was playing piano on the radio.[4] He became a staff arranger for CBS Radio, becoming one of the first Black American composers to write music for radio and television.[3] He was also the sole music arranger for the Voice of Firestone on radio and television.[2] Work was also a member of the American Society of Music Arrangers and served on its national board in the mid-1940s.[5]

Work married Kathryn Holliday in 1953.[6] Upon his retirement they moved to Tolland, Massachusetts, where he died.[3]

Partial list of compositions

  • Wanderlust (1938)[7]
  • Myriorama by Night (orchestra, ca. 1946)[8]
  • Portraits from the Bible (1956)[3]
  • Autumn Walk (wind band, 1957)[3]
  • Processional Hymn (arrangement of "Gaudeamus Igitur" for chorus with band or piano accompaniment, 1957)[1]
  • Driftwood Patterns (wind band, 1961)[3][9]
  • Stand the Storm (1963)[3]
  • Reflections, Poems of Praise[2]
  • Forest Images[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Eileen Southern, Biographical Dictionary of Afro-American and African Musician (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982), p. 415.
  2. ^ a b c d e Lucius R. Wyatt, "Composers Corner: Julian C. Work," Black Music Research Newsletter 8, no. 3, p. 5.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g William Burres Garcia and Willie Strong, "Work Family: Julian C(assander), Work," Grove Music Online. (accessed 11 July 2021)
  4. ^ For example, see "Radio Programs for Tuesday, August 20," New York Herald Tribune (August 19, 1929), p. G3.
  5. ^ Marvin, Wanda. ”Arrangers Want Some ‘Cake’ Too; ASMA Will Voice Beefs.” Billboard 56:50 (9 December 1944), 14, 22.
  6. ^ "New York, New York, U.S., Marriage License Indexes, 1907-2018" on Ancestry.com.
  7. ^ "Martinelli Sings Eighth 'Otello, Last of Season", New York Herald Tribune (March 19, 1938), p. 8.
  8. ^ "Anderson Booked with Philharmonic." Los Angeles Times, 3 February 1946 (article gives LA Philharmonic premiere of the work as 7 February 1946).
  9. ^ The work is reviewed in Instrumentalist magazine, June 1961, 64 ("New Music").

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