John Wesley Work III facts for kids

John Wesley Work III (born July 15, 1901 – died May 17, 1967) was a very talented person. He was a composer (someone who writes music) and a teacher. He also directed choirs and studied music and folklore (old stories and customs) of African Americans.

Early Life and Family

John Wesley Work III was born on July 15, 1901, in Tullahoma, Tennessee. He came from a family of professional musicians. His grandfather, John Wesley Work, directed church choirs in Nashville. He wrote and arranged music for them. Some people in his choirs were part of the first Fisk Jubilee Singers.

His father, John Wesley Work, Jr., was a singer. He collected folksongs and taught music, Latin, and history at Fisk. John's mother, Agnes Haynes Work, was also a singer. She helped train the Fisk Jubilee Singers. His uncle, Frederick Jerome Work, collected and arranged folksongs too. His brother, Julian, became a professional musician and composer.

Education and Career

John Wesley Work III started his music training at Fisk University's school. He then went to Fisk High School and later to Fisk University. He earned his first degree there in 1923. After that, he studied at the Institute of Musical Art in New York City. This school is now called the Juilliard School of Music.

He returned to Fisk University to teach in 1927. He spent his summers studying music in New York. In 1930, he earned a master's degree from Columbia University. His special project was about American Negro Songs and Spirituals. He also received two special awards called Julius Rosenwald Foundation Fellowships. These allowed him to take two years off from Fisk. During this time, he earned another music degree from Yale University in 1933.

Work spent the rest of his career at Fisk University. He retired in 1966. He held many important jobs there. He was a teacher and the head of the Fisk University Department of Music. He also directed the famous Fisk Jubilee Singers from 1947 to 1956. He wrote articles for music journals and dictionaries for over thirty years.

Composing Music

John Wesley Work III started writing music when he was still in high school. He continued composing throughout his life. He wrote over one hundred pieces of music. These included pieces for a full orchestra, piano, and small groups of instruments. He also wrote for violin and organ. Most of his music was for choirs and solo singers.

In 1946, he won first prize in a competition for his cantata (a type of musical story) called The Singers. In 1947, he received an award from the National Association of Negro Musicians. Fisk University gave him an honorary doctorate (a special degree) in 1963.

Collecting Folk Music

Work also collected Negro Folk Songs, many of which were recorded in Fort Valley. He worked with two friends from Fisk University, Charles S. Johnson and Lewis Jones. They teamed up with the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress. This led to the Library of Congress/Fisk University Mississippi Delta Collection.

This project was a two-year study in 1941 and 1942. The goal was to record the folk culture of African Americans in the Mississippi Delta region. They focused on Coahoma County, Mississippi, especially Clarksdale. The famous musician Muddy Waters was first recorded as part of this project.

John Wesley Work III passed away on May 17, 1967.

Musical works

• Yenvalou for orchestra (1946)
• Sassafras, pieces for piano (1946)
• Scuppernong (1951)
• Appalachia (1954)
• From the Deep South (1936)
• The Singers, cantatas (1941)
• Isaac Watts Contemplates the Cross (1962)

Other works

John Wesley Work III also arranged many Christian folk songs from the 1860s. These were published in 1948.

• This Little Light O' Mine with solo unaccompanied
• Jesus, Lay Your Head in the Window for high voice with piano
• Done Made My Vow to the Lord for mixed voices, with tenor
• Go Tell It on the Mountain (Christmas) for mixed voices or junior choir, also versions for treble and male voices
• Little Black Train for mixed voices, with mezzo-soprano and tenor
• Lord, I'm Out Here on Your Word with tenor voice solo
• Railroad Bill for male chorus
• Listen to the Angels Shouting for women's chorus, with contralto solo