In 1927, Price moved to Chicago with her family, driven to leave Arkansas due to several cases of lynchings and escalating racial tensions. Price persisted, however, by going her own way, founding the Little Rock Club of Musicians and thereby enabling herself to program and perform her own compositions. Despite her qualifications, Price application for membership of the Arkansas State Music Teachers Association was rejected because of the color of her skin. During this time, however, her mother pushed her to conceal her race to avoid prejudice held toward African Americans, her graduation program listing her hometown as “Pueblo, Mexico.”Īfter graduating, Price devoted much of her time to teaching and raising a family in Arkansas, and in 1910, Price became the head of Clark Atlanta University’s music department. She also provided private instruction in organ, piano and violin. While there, Price studied with renowned composers including George Chadwick and Frederick Converse. Price then went on to study music at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she majored in piano and organ. Price gave her first piano performance at age four and publishing her first composition by the age of 11, graduating high school at the top of her class at the age of 14. Price’s mother first introduced her to music, and Price’s music education continued at the integrated Allison Presbyterian Church in Little Rock, where she was regularly exposed to the sacred works of Bach, Mendelssohn and Vaughan Williams. Price was born in Little Rock to a well-respected mixed-race family, her father a dentist and her mother a music teacher. Price might be considered the culmination of the initial group of African-American composers whose work followed Dvorak’s footsteps with the New World Symphony. How did Price navigate through hostile obstacles to come to this place? Let’s begin at the beginning, with Price’s early years in Arkansas. In 1893, during his time in the United States while composing his New World Symphony, composer Antonín Dvořák advised other American composers to study African American spirituals and other songs of African Americans and indigenous peoples as inspiration, going as far to proclaim that “an American art music should be built on African-American idioms.” Composers such as George Gershwin and Aaron Copland were later known for taking up this directive and exploring uniquely “American” idioms, but it is often disregarded that many African-American composers did this as well. Price’s 5 Folksongs in Counterpoint, performed by the Apollo String Quartet FLORENCE PRICE HOW TOPrice’s works attempt answer the question of how to create sounds that reflect both a past and present embodiment of the black experience in the United States. Price went beyond simply quoting traditional African-American folk songs, instead integrating structural techniques of these songs, like pentatonicism and call and response, into the very core of her works. Being deeply religious, Price often used spirituals and African American church music as sources for her music, not only their text and melodies, but also their unique rhythms and syncopated style. Like fellow composers William Grant Still and William Levi Dawson, Price was known for exploring her Southern roots, commonly incorporating the Blues and melodies of black folk songs into her works. While Price was trained in European traditions, her compositions occupy a largely American idiom. Price composed for many types of musical forces, having written orchestral works (including four symphonies and several concertos), chamber works, art songs, works for violin, organ anthems, piano pieces, and spiritual arrangements. Even today, there remains a lack of recognition and appreciation for much of Price’s work, but gradually, more groups and individuals have begun to shed light on her rich and unique musical language. As we wrap up Black History Month and open March with National Women’s History Month, we celebrate the life of Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953), the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer and to have a composition played by a major orchestra. However, to reach this achievement and become recognized for her distinct idiom, Price had to fight her way through substantial prejudices toward her gender and race throughout her lifetime.
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