Last month’s American Composers crossword revealed an interesting conundrum: hundreds of composers’ names were gathered for possible inclusion. But only 15 could be included. What to do with the remaining? Mais bien sûr: offer American Composers – Again.
But this time special effort has been made to include composers who have sadly faced exclusion based on non-musical factors such as ethnicity, gender, and societal “norms.” You will, perhaps, have heard their names, but rarely, if ever, their wonderful music. The works of Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, and Amy Beach were highly praised and then put aside. William Grant Still, William Levi Dawson, and Harry Thacker Burleigh wrote songs, orchestral works, and choral pieces that introduced spiritual melodies to the concert stage.
Of course, there are also composers you’re more likely to know: Colonial American music is represented by William Billings; America’s great songwriters include Simon, Taylor, and Rodgers. And a good dose of our Oregon composers, past and current, can be found throughout the clues and answers.
American Composers – Again – Click here for an interactive puzzle you can fill out in your web browser
Download the puzzle as a printable PDF
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SPOILER ALERT: All 22 composers included in this puzzle are listed below with links to biographies and/or music. Enjoy learning more about these creative Americans. And by the way, the list of those not included this time is still very long. Hmmm.
John Coolidge Adams, John Luther Adams, Jacob Avshalomov, Samuel Barber, Amy Beach, William Billings, Ernest Bloch, Margaret Bonds, Harry Thacker Burleigh, William Levi Dawson, Moses Hogan, Frederick Loewe, Florence Price, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Richard Rodgers, Ned Rorem, Paul Simon, Tomáš Svoboda, James Taylor, Stephen Sondheim, William Grant Still, Joan Szymko
And these Oregon women mentioned in clues only: Stacey Philipps, Jodi French, Naomi LaViolette, Judy A. Rose, Cecille Elliott, Alicia-Jo Rabins and Renée Favand-See.
