Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Florence Price

Florence Price Marian Anderson and History

It was quite a birthday present for Florence Price when one of her arrangements was heard by what was likely the largest audience she would ever enjoy in her lifetime.

On Easter Sunday, on this date in 1939, Marian Anderson, barred from performing at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, because of her race, sang instead from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, to a diverse crowd of 75,000 people on the mall and a national radio audience estimated in the millions.

The program concluded with Price’s arrangement of the spiritual “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord.” By coincidence, it also happened to be Price’s birthday.

Price, born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1887, had become the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, when her Symphony in E minor was performed by the Chicago Symphony in 1933. Needless to say, in an era when White American males struggled to find acceptance on Eurocentric classical music programs, Price, as a Black American woman, faced even greater challenges.

The playing field has shifted in recent years, and interest in Price’s music has been on the rise. It’s hard to believe, for a composer of her accomplishments, that dozens of her manuscripts were rescued from her dilapidated summer home, on the outskirts of St. Anne, Illinois, only as recently as 2009.

Price died in 1953.

It’s an exciting time to be alive. Who knows what other musical riches are out there, undervalued in their time, awaiting rediscovery?

Anderson sings “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord”

Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor

Lincoln Memorial Concert

April 9, 2024
Rediscovering Black Composers

Time was, one really had to scrape to pull together a good Black History program. My, how things have changed! The past few years have seen an explosion of recordings and wider exposure for composers once known mostly to record collectors. Who knew that Florence Price would one day be played everywhere?

This week on “Sweetness and Light,” I feel sheepish even making it a two-parter, as I’m still merely skating across the surface. But it is, after all, a light music show.

Enjoy a second cup of coffee with Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor; the “Dean of Afro-American composers,” William Grant Still; former slave “Blind Tom” Wiggins (allegedly once the highest-paid pianist of the 19th century); Philadelphia-born bugle virtuoso Francis Johnson (including his “Princeton Gallopade”); and Duke Ellington.

Next year, maybe I’ll make it a four-parter. Or better yet, be more conscious about including more of this music throughout the year. I try, but I can’t tell you how many times things get cut, so that I can fit it all into an hour. (Apologies to you, Scott Joplin, Eubie Blake, and Edmond Dédé!)

Good music is not a black and white issue. I hope you’ll join me for another “Sweetness and Light,” music calculated to charm and to cheer. It’s part two of “Black and Light,” this Saturday morning at 11:00 EST/8:00 PST, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Listen to it, wherever you are, at the link:

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

PHOTO: Have coffee with the Duke

February 24, 2024
Raritan River Music Festival Continues

Three out of four ain’t bad. In fact, it looks pretty good.

The Raritan River Music festival will continue this weekend, with its third concert (of four) held in historic venues in West-Central New Jersey. The Mohawk Trail Piano Trio will present “Musical Monuments: Masterpieces by Anton Arensky and Florence Price.”

Price, whose music is only now being revived in a big way, was the first Black woman to have a symphony played by a major orchestra (the Chicago Symphony in 1933). Arensky studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and taught Rachmaninoff, but his primary influence as a composer was Tchaikovsky.

Trios by these two composers should make for a lovely program. Chamber music by Arensky and Price will be performed by resident artists of western Massachusetts’ Mohawk Trail Concerts, at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Stewartsville this Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Next week, the series will conclude, with flutist Clare Hofmann and harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio of the Grand Canyon Music Festival. They’ll be joined by electric violist/composer Martha Mooke. Among the featured works will be “Serenade for the Grand Canyon” by Philadelphia-born Arnold Black, whose centennial it is this year.

The program will also include “Fairy Fantasy,” a new piece commissioned by Raritan River Music from venerable Cuban composer Leo Brouwer, performed by the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo ; and a new work by Diné-American composer Raven Chacon, recipient of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

That concert will take place on May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown.

For further details about either program, directions to the venues, and information about online streaming, visit raritanrivermusic.org.

May 19, 2023
Raritan River Music Festival Returns in May

Raritan River Music is rarin’ to go! The first of the warm-weather music festivals will beat the summer crush with four concerts held in historic venues in West-Central Jersey throughout the month of May.

Now in its 34th season, Raritan River Music is directed and curated by founders Michael Newman and Laura Oltman of the Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo. This year’s theme is “Tributes: The Legacy of Musical Traditions.”

The series will begin tomorrow at 7:30 p.m., with The Four Nations Ensemble performing at Clinton Presbyterian Church. “Les Grands: French Baroque Music from Court and Concert” will feature music by Francois Couperin and colleagues, who composed and performed at the Palace of Versailles and at salons and concert halls around Paris in the early 18th century. The concert will serve as a tribute to New Jersey’s Soclair Music Festival (1975-2005), founded by June and Ira Kapp, with Edward Brewer the founding music director.

Then Newman & Oltman will join the Bergamot Quartet on May 13 at 7:30 p.m. at Stanton Reformed Church for “Laments & Dances: Music from the Folk Traditions.” The musicians will mark the centenary of Philadelphia-born composer Arnold Black. Black, who suffered from cerebral palsy, earned degrees for violin and composition from the Juilliard School and went on to perform with the NBC Symphony and as assistant concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony and National Symphony Orchestras. His “Laments & Dances” incorporates melodies by the 17th century blind Irish harper Turlough O’Carolan. If you take a fancy to it, Newman & Oltman made a recording of it, which is available on the Musical Heritage Society label. Also on the program will be new works inspired by traditional music as interpreted by Ledah Finck (Irish), Anna Roberts Gevalt (Appalachian), and Princeton’s own Dan Trueman (Norwegian).

On May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Old Greenwich Presbyterian Church in Stewartsville, the Mohawk Trail Piano Trio will present “Musical Monuments: Masterpieces by Anton Arensky and Florence Price.” Price, whose music is only now being revived in a big way, was the first Black woman to have a symphony played by a major orchestra. Arensky studied with Rimsky-Korsakov and taught Rachmaninoff, but his primary influence as a composer was Tchaikovsky. Piano trios by both Price and Arensky will be performed by resident artists of western Massachusetts’ Mohawk Trail Concerts, founded by Arnold Black in 1970.

Another one of Black’s chamber works will lend its name to the concluding program on May 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Bethlehem Presbyterian Church in Pittstown. “Serenade for the Grand Canyon” was composed for the Grand Canyon Music Festival. It will be played by that festival’s founders (in 1983), flutist Clare Hofmann and harmonica virtuoso Robert Bonfiglio. Also performing will be electric violist/composer Martha Mooke.

In addition, Newman & Oltman will perform a newly commissioned work from Cuba’s venerable master of the guitar, Leo Brouwer. “Fairy Fantasy” was inspired by Brouwer’s “The Book of Imaginary Beings,” which also received its premiere on an earlier Raritan River Music season. Again, Newman & Oltman recorded “The Book of Imaginary Beings” as part of an all-Brouwer program, for the MusicMasters Classical label.

Rounding out the program will be a new work by Diné -American composer – and 2022 Pulitzer Prize winner – Raven Chacon, who was born within the Navajo Nation.

For further details, directions, and information about online streaming, visit raritanrivermusic.org.

May 5, 2023
Marian Anderson’s Easter Triumph Florence Price’s Legacy

On Easter Sunday, on this date in 1939, in the ultimate demonstration of turning lemons into lemonade, Marian Anderson, barred from performing at Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution, because of her race, sang instead from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, to a diverse crowd of 75,000 people on the mall and a national radio audience estimated in the millions.

The program concluded with the spiritual “My Soul is Anchored in the Lord,” in an arrangement by Florence Price (1887-1953). By coincidence, today also happens to be Price’s birthday. Price, born in Little Rock, Arkansas, became the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, when her Symphony in E minor was performed by the Chicago Symphony in 1933. Needless to say, in an era when White American males struggled to find acceptance on Eurocentric classical music programs, Price, as a Black American woman, faced even greater challenges.

The playing field has shifted in recent years, and interest in Price’s music has been on the rise. It’s hard to believe, for a composer of her accomplishments, that dozens of her manuscripts were rescued from her dilapidated summer home, on the outskirts of St. Anne, Illinois, only as recently as 2009.

It’s an exciting time to be alive. Who knows what other musical riches are out there, undervalued in their time, awaiting rediscovery?

Anderson sings “My Soul’s Been Anchored in the Lord”

Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor

Lincoln Memorial Concert

April 9, 2023

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