We have found next to no information about William Grant Still's Lyric Quartet. The manuscript carries two sets of titles as well as two sets of movement titles, probably an indication that Still could not make up his mind which set of titles was more suitable, and as the work was never published until now, we will never know. The first title he wrote on the manuscript was Musical Portraits of Three Friends. The three movements were given the following titles: The Sentimental One, The Quiet One, and The Jovial One. The second title for the work he chose was Impressions, and he titled the three movements as follows: Moderately-On a plantation, Moderately slow-In the mountains of Peru, and finally Moderately fast-In a pioneer settlement. Interestingly, in both sets of titles for the second movement, he wrote the words 'Based on an Inca melody.' The first movement is mostly calm and genial with touches of melancholy. There is a vague aura of French Impressionism. The second movement is gentle with echoes of Debussy to be heard. The third movement, which is full of energy, is loud and boisterous, with elements of jazz. While we do not know exactly when the work was composed, most likely it was between 1939 and 1945 because Still dedicated it to his friend, the violinist Joachim Chassman, who was part of the famous Hollywood String Quartet during those years. Our World Premiere Edition was carefully prepared from the composer's manuscript by senior editors Garik Hayrapetyan and Raymond Silvertrust.
William Grant Still (1895-1978) was one of the most important African-American composers of the 20th century. Although classical music was his first love, he also wrote for radio and television. Still’s orchestral works have been widely performed, at least in the United States, but his chamber music is not well-known. He was sent to college by his mother to study medicine, but in the end studied composition with Edgar Varese at Oberlin and later with George Chadwick at the New England Conservatory.