Classics III: Dreams of Heaven & Earth

William Grant Still wrote more than 150 compositions, merging musical aspects of his African American heritage with traditional European classical forms. Originally composed for solo piano, Summerland (1937) is a short, intensely expressive elegy — dreamy and atmospheric, suggesting the summer of its title, with hints of the blues and a nod to his fellow composer Debussy. Motivated by the poems of Paul Verlaine (1844-1896), Debussy’s 1889 Petite ...