Post by erik on Jul 3, 2021 12:42:53 GMT -5
The most prominent African-American female composer in our nation's history is in the Classical Works Spotlight with an all-important symphonic work of the 1930's.
Florence Price: SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN E MINOR
The twentieth century saw the United States take its rightful place as one of the great nations of the world in many areas, particularly true in terms of forming the basis for much of that century’s sound in classical music. Many composers such as Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, George Gershwin, and Morton Gould made their marks on recordings and in concert halls. But one other group wasn’t always so easy to recognize, and that group was the African-American. Only in very recent decades have those of Negro ancestry managed to crack the racial glass ceiling that existed in this art form. Even more obscure, or at least up until the early part of the 21st century, was Florence Price, the first female composer of African-American ancestry. Born in 1887 in Arkansas, Price faced the basic policies of racism and sexism that had been part-and-parcel of the United States very much from the beginning; but in her lifetime, she managed to break some of those barriers. Indeed, Price’s First Symphony, which she wrote in 1931-32, during the earliest part of the Great Depression, was important because it became the first major orchestral work by an African-American woman to be performed by a major orchestra: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of music director Frederic Stock. With melodies inspired by various African-American spirituals, plus inspiration from Dvorak’s New World Symphony (which, like Price’s, is in E Minor), this thirty-seven minute symphony blends Romantic and modern elements into a very unique brew; along with the first two symphonies of William Grant Still, it was a substantial influence on the American Sound. But even with its successful premiere in Chicago in June 1933, both the work and its creator (who passed away in 1953) were almost lost to time, until manuscripts of her work were discovered in a Chicago house that Price once lived in. Since then, Price’s name has attained far greater recognition, a lot of that due to recordings of her works made in her native Arkansas by John Jeter and the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra.
Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra/JOHN JETER (Naxos)
Included:
SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN D MINOR
Florence Price: SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN E MINOR
The twentieth century saw the United States take its rightful place as one of the great nations of the world in many areas, particularly true in terms of forming the basis for much of that century’s sound in classical music. Many composers such as Aaron Copland, Samuel Barber, George Gershwin, and Morton Gould made their marks on recordings and in concert halls. But one other group wasn’t always so easy to recognize, and that group was the African-American. Only in very recent decades have those of Negro ancestry managed to crack the racial glass ceiling that existed in this art form. Even more obscure, or at least up until the early part of the 21st century, was Florence Price, the first female composer of African-American ancestry. Born in 1887 in Arkansas, Price faced the basic policies of racism and sexism that had been part-and-parcel of the United States very much from the beginning; but in her lifetime, she managed to break some of those barriers. Indeed, Price’s First Symphony, which she wrote in 1931-32, during the earliest part of the Great Depression, was important because it became the first major orchestral work by an African-American woman to be performed by a major orchestra: the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of music director Frederic Stock. With melodies inspired by various African-American spirituals, plus inspiration from Dvorak’s New World Symphony (which, like Price’s, is in E Minor), this thirty-seven minute symphony blends Romantic and modern elements into a very unique brew; along with the first two symphonies of William Grant Still, it was a substantial influence on the American Sound. But even with its successful premiere in Chicago in June 1933, both the work and its creator (who passed away in 1953) were almost lost to time, until manuscripts of her work were discovered in a Chicago house that Price once lived in. Since then, Price’s name has attained far greater recognition, a lot of that due to recordings of her works made in her native Arkansas by John Jeter and the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra.
Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra/JOHN JETER (Naxos)
Included:
SYMPHONY NO. 4 IN D MINOR