Price: Symphony No. 3 in C minor; The Mississippi River; Tehiopia's Shadow in America (2021)

Florence Price Rediscovered

In 1933, Florence Price (1887 -- 1953) became the first African American composer to have a symphony performed by a major orchestra when the Chicago Symphony programmed her Symphony No. 1. Price received attention during the 1930s and 40s and then gradually faded from the public eye. Her music began to be rediscoved particularly after the 2009 recovery of many of her manuscripts from an abandoned summer home. Price's music is receiving increased and well-deserved attention.

The Naxos American Classics series is recording Price's orchestral music under the direction of John Jeter, the music director and conductor of the Fort Smith Symphony, Arkansas since 1987. Price was born in and lived in Arkansas for many years. Jeter is a gifted champion of her music. On this CD, Jeter conducts the music of Price with an internationally known orchestra, the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Price's music merits performance by a world-class orchestra, and the symphony and Jeter perform with enthusiasm and commitment.

This CD includes Price's Symphony no. 3, (1940), her Mississippi River Suite (1934) and, in a world premier recording, her short suite, "Ethiopia's Shadow in America" from 1932. In 2001, the other two works were included in a pioneering recording by the Women's Philharmonic, a San Fransisco based orchestra dedicated to the performance of music by women under the direction of its last conductor, Apo Hsu. This recording is still available and I was fortunate to hear it some years ago. Another recording of Price's first and third symphonies received the Grammy Award in 2022 for best orchestral recording.

This Naxos CD is outstanding in its own right and offers an introduction to Florence Price. Her music is accessible and combines later romantic folk elements, in the manner of Dvorak and Brahms's folk song arrangements, with African American themes and rhythms. Other American composers including Charles Ives and Aaron Copland, frequently incorporated American folk material and folk idiom into their music.

The Symphony No. 3 weaves together romantic and folk materials in its outer two movement while the two middle movements, a slow, reflective second movement and a lively syncopated dance, the "Juba" for the third movement present more African American themes. The lengthy "Mississipp River" suite flows slowly, as does its namesake with twists and turns from North to South. Price uses folk material extensively as the Suite moves on its course. The third work offers a brief musical depiction of African American life from slavery to the present. Price gave the titles to the three movements: 1. "The Arrival of the Negro in America when first brought here as a Slave", 2 "His Resignation and Faith", 3. "His adaptation: a Fusion of his Native and Acquired Impulses." It is good to have this work recorded and available to be enjoyed.

The CD was recorded on March 12, 2020, in Vienna and Douglas Shadle of Vanderbuilt University wrote the informative liner notes. . The Naxos "American Classics" series highlights the frequently overlooked contributions of American composers to classical music. I have enjoyed many recordings in this series over the years. Florence Price has achieved recognition at last, and her music deserves to be included as an "American Classic".

Total Time: 66:48

Robin Friedman