\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Florence Price, a native of Little Rock, Arkansas, was a pioneer black American composer who distinguished herself early on.\u00a0 Most notably, she is remembered as the first black American woman to garner success as a composer of symphonic music.\u00a0 Her first symphony is perhaps her best-known work.\u00a0 Winner of a national prize, it was given its premi\u00e8re in 1933 by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra\u2014a social and cultural milestone in this country at that time.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At a young age she journeyed north to Boston to study at the New England Conservatory, and returned to Arkansas and Georgia to teach at various small black colleges.\u00a0 After marriage she and her husband left a racially troubled Arkansas in 1927 for Chicago and her further study at the American Conservatory of Music.\u00a0 Her career blossomed, and recognition for her art led to the afore-mentioned symphony in 1931, followed by two more symphonies, concertos, and other works for orchestra.\u00a0 She composed in a variety of other genres:\u00a0 chamber works, piano music, and vocal compositions–over three hundred in all!\u00a0 Her songs and arrangements of spirituals were perhaps her most performed compositions.\u00a0 But, sadly, little of her \u0153uvre<\/em> has been published; with her increasing popularity today, that very well may change.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She apparently wrote two compositions for string quartet, both dated around 1950, although she may have begun one of them much earlier. They had similar titles\u2014and underwent somewhat confusing title changes, as well\u2014and both featured folksongs.\u00a0\u00a0 Our concert features the quartet originally entitled \u201cNegro Folksongs in Counterpoint;\u201d after the addition of two broadly American folksongs to the original three, she changed the title to simply \u201cFive Folksongs in Counterpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Thus, the five are:\u00a0 \u201cCalvary,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cMy Darling Clementine,\u201d \u201cDrink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,\u201d\u00a0 \u201cShortnin\u2019 Bread,\u201d and \u201cSwing Low, Sweet Chariot.\u201d\u00a0 These movements are manifestly not the usual simplistic arrangements of folksongs one often encounters.\u00a0 Anyone capable of the composition of sophisticated symphonies can and will do much more.\u00a0 Accordingly, they\u2014notwithstanding the recognizable use of folk material\u2014are miniature essays in contrapuntal treatment.\u00a0\u00a0 One will hear a variety of accompanying motives and countermotives, usually in a non-imitative texture.\u00a0\u00a0 Price was well educated in traditional European classical compositional styles and techniques, and her sophistication shows eloquently here.\u00a0 Yet, she is concomitantly, proudly and solidly rooted in her cultural roots.\u00a0\u00a0 Recipient of early recognition, and then relative obscurity, her music is now enjoying a renaissance.<\/p>\n –Wm. Runyan<\/p>\n \u00a92019 William E. Runyan<\/p>\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"program_note_tax":[144],"class_list":["post-363","program_note","type-program_note","status-publish","hentry","program_note_tax-florencebprice"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note\/363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/program_note"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"program_note_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.runyanprogramnotes.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program_note_tax?post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}