A Resource List for Florence Price Newcomers

May 30, 2018 Jordan Randall Smith

This post originally appeared in Jordan Randall Smith’s personal blog, The Composer’s Notebook, under the title “The Price is Right'.“

Florence Price was doubtless one of the great composers of her generation, and the first African American woman "to achieve national recognition for her accomplishments as a symphonic composer." (source: University of Arkansas.) In 2018, Price seems finally to be having her "moment" with a flurry of press, new editions on the horizon, and the premiere of her once-lost fourth symphony all occurring since January. An American original who completed over 300 compositions, she was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas and later became a part of the Chicago music scene after some time studying at the New England Conservatory with composer George Whitfield Chadwick.

Next season I'll be performing the music of Price, and I would encourage local concertgoers to come out to one or both of these performances. In the meantime, this entry is designed to round up a lot of the existing resources on the web into one place so that other musicians can pursue projects to do with Price's music more quickly and readily. With hundreds of works, including two violin concertos and four symphonies, there is a wealth of repertoire to explore for practitioners in almost every musical genre.

“She seems to speak from an imaginary past, from an alternative history of an America that lived up to its stated ideals.”

— Alex Ross

Curated Resources

Articles

Tom Dillard. "Reviving a fine musical legacy." Arkansas Democrat - Gazette. (May 20, 2018)
Micaela Baranello. "Welcoming a Black Female Composer Into the Canon. Finally." New York Times. (Feb. 9, 2018)
Alex Ross. "The Rediscovery of Florence Price." New Yorker. (February 5, 2018)
UALR Public Radio: "After Lost Scores Are Found In Abandoned House, Musicians Give Life To Florence Price's Music" (May 4, 2018)
Tom Huizenga. "Songs We Love: Florence Price, 'Violin Concerto No. 2'." NPR. (February 9, 2018)
Bob McQuiston. "Classical Lost And Found: Florence Price Rediscovered." NPR. (February 28, 2012 - well ahead of the curve.)

Documentaries

There are a number of great radio and tv programs to aid any musician in learning more about this electrifying composer, many of them available for free online.

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Hosted by Terrance McKnight.