John Wesley Work, III

b. July 15, 1901 - d. May 17, 1967

John Wesley Work III was a noted composer, educator, choir director, and musicologist, remembered especially for his work as a folk song collector specializing in African American spirituals. Work hailed from a musical family. His grandfather was a church music director in the Nashville area. His father taught at Fisk University in Nashville and also collected many African American spirituals, including "Go Tell It on the Mountain."

Work received his early education at Fisk University. After receiving his B.A. from Fisk in 1923, he attended the Institute of Musical Art in New York City (now the Julliard School). He later received a M.A. in 1930 from Columbia, and a B.Mus from Yale in 1933.

After graduating Work taught at Fisk University from 1927 until his retirement in 1967. Throughout his career, he undertook several projects to study and record African American folk songs and spirituals. In one such project he collaborated with colleagues at Fisk University to record music of the Mississippi River Delta for the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress. Blues musician Muddy Waters was first recorded as part of this study.

Work was an active composer throughout his life. Though his output spans a variety of styles, his largest contribution was to choral and vocal solo music. Several of these compositions were arrangements based on the African American spirituals and folk songs he collected as part of his research. Galaxy Music Corporation published a number of his arrangements in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s, and many of these publications remain popular with choirs and soloists today.