Composers
Florence Price
1887 - 1953About
Florence Price, born in Little Rock, Arkansas, is considered the first recognized African-American female composer. In her lifetime, she composed more than 300 works, including small teaching pieces for piano, symphonies, concertos, instrumental chamber music, vocal compositions, and music for the radio. Coming from an artistic family, Price was groomed early in her musical training and attended New England Conservatory of Music at age 14, where she studied under George Chadwich and Frederick Converse. After graduating with degrees for organ and teaching piano, she taught back in Arkansas. Due to racial tension in the states, Price and her family moved to Chicago, IL in 1927 and there her artistry grew.
She established herself as a teacher, pianist, and organist after she furthered her music education at the American Conservatory of Music and Chicago Musical College. By 1932, Florence Price’s “At the Cotton Gin” had been published by Schirmer and her Piano Sonata in E minor and Symphony in E minor had won multiple awards by the Rodman Wanamaker. The latter composition premiered with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933, which led to the subsequent performances of Price’s symphonic works by various orchestras including ones in Detroit, Michigan and Brooklyn, New York. This success marked her as a composer of the same caliber as her male counterparts, William Grant Still and William Dawson.
Related Information
https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/florence-beatrice-smith-price-1742/Works by Florence Price
| Title | Published | Size | Solo with Ensemble | Duration Range | Level | Orchestration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abraham Lincoln Walks at Midnight | Yes | Chorus and Orchestra | 20+ | Professional | 2.2.2.2 / 2.2.0.0 / timp / pf.org / str SATBar Chorus | |
| Adoration | Yes | String Orchestra | Under 5 | Grade 2 | str | |
| Andante moderato for string orchestra (from String Quartet In G Major) (1929) | Yes | String Orchestra | 5-10 | Collegiate or Above | str | |
| Chicago Suite | No | Professional | ||||
| Colonial Dance | Yes | Full Orchestra | 5-10 | Professional | 2+pic.2.2.2 / 4.2.3.1 / timp+ 2 perc / str | |
| Concert Overture No.1 | Yes | Full Orchestra | 10-20 | Professional | 3.2.2.2 / 4.3.3.1 / timp+4perc / str | |
| Concert Overture No.2 | Yes | Full Orchestra | 10-20 | Professional | 3+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2 / 4.3.3.1 / timp + 3 perc (2cym, s.d., b.d.) / hp / str | |
| Dances in the Canebrakes | Yes | Full Orchestra | 5-10 | Professional | 2.2.2.2 +altosax/ 3.3.2.0/ timp + perc/ harp/ str | |
| Dances in the Canebrakes | Yes | Full Orchestra | 5-10 | Professional |
2.2.2.2 / altosax / 3.3.2.0 / timp +1 Perc. / harp / str |
|
| Ethiopia's Shadow in America | Yes | Full Orchestra | 10-20 | Professional | 2+pic.2.2.2/4.2.3.1/ timp + 4 perc / cel / str | |
| Every Dream | No | Full Orchestra | Voice | Professional | 1.0.2.0 / 2.2.1.0. / dms / pf / str / voice | |
| Juba for string orchestra (from String Quartet in A Minor) | Yes | String Orchestra | 5-10 | Professional | str | |
| Mississippi River Suite | Yes | Full Orchestra | 20+ | Professional | 3+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2+cbn / 4.3.3.1 / timp + 4 perc / hp / str | |
| My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord | Yes | String Orchestra | Contralto | Under 5 | Professional | str |
| Piano Concerto in One Movement | Yes | Full Orchestra | Piano | 10-20 | Professional | 1.1.2.1 / 2.2.2.0 / timp+ 2 perc / str |
| Songs of the Oak | Yes | Full Orchestra | 5-10 | Professional | 3+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2+cbn / 4.3.3+btn.1 / timp + 6perc / cel[=org].hp / str | |
| Suite of Dances | Yes | Full Orchestra | 5-10 | Professional | 2.0.2.1 / 2.2[=cnt].0.0 / timp.4perc / str | |
| Symphony No. 1 in E Minor | Yes | Full Orchestra | 20+ | Collegiate or Above | 4 [1.2 3.4/pic] 2.2.2 / 4.2.3.1 / timp.perc / str | |
| Symphony No. 2 in G Minor | No | Professional | ||||
| Symphony No. 3 in C Minor | Yes | Full Orchestra | 20+ | Professional | 3+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2 / 4.3.3.1 / timp +1 perc / hp / str | |
| Symphony No. 4 in D Minor | Yes | Full Orchestra | 20+ | Professional | 3+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2 / 4.3.3.1 / timp+2 perc / cel / hp / str | |
| The Oak | Yes | Full Orchestra | 10-20 | Professional | 3+pic.2+ca.2+bcl.2 / 4.3.3.1 / timp + 4 perc / hp / str | |
| Three Negro Dances | Yes | Band | 5-10 | Professional | 1+2pic.2.3+ebcl+bcl.2asx+tsx+barsx.2 / 4.2.3.1+euph / perc | |
| Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major | Yes | Full Orchestra | Violin | 20+ | Professional | 2.2.2.2 / 0.2.0.0 / timp / st |
| Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor | Yes | Full Orchestra | Violin | 10-20 | Professional | 2.1+ca.2.2 / 4.2.3.1 / timp + 3 perc / hp /pf / str |
| Title | Work | Instrumentation | Level | Number of Movements | Accompanied | Size | Duration Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Hillside | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| A Photograph | Piano | Intermediate | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| A Pleasant Thought | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| A Poem | Piano | Advanced | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| A Sprite Kissed a Rose | Piano | Intermediate | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| A Tête-à-Tête | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | Under 5 | ||
| A Thought for May | Piano | Advanced | No | ||||
| A Wee Bit of Erin | Piano | Intermediate | 1 | No | Solo | ||
|
Absence |
Piano | Intermediate | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| Adoration | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| African Drums | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Album Leaf | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | Under 5 | ||
| Alto Saxophone Sonata | Piano, Alto Saxophone | 1 | Yes | Solo | |||
| Bayou Dance | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Broadway at Night | Piano | Intermediate | No | ||||
| Cabin Capers | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Concerto, D Minor, in one movement | 1 | Yes | Solo | ||||
| Coreopsis | 4 Hands Piano, Two Pianos | Advanced | Yes | ||||
| Dainty Feet | Piano | Intermediate | 1 | No | Solo | ||
|
Dances in the Canebrakes |
Piano | Advanced | 4 | No | Solo | 10-20 | |
| Dark Pool | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Fantasie Negre | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Far Afield | Piano | Intermediate | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| Flame | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
|
Forest Scenes |
Piano | Advanced | 3 | No | Solo | ||
|
Happy in Shadows |
Piano | Advanced | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| Hoe Cake | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Honeysuckle (or, A Souther Sky) | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Honeysuckle at Dusk | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| In Quiet Mood | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Jig Jog | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Jolly Jinks | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | Under 5 | ||
| Little Cabin Lullaby | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | Under 5 | ||
| Little Melody in Eb | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Lonely | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | Under 5 | ||
|
Longing for Home |
Piano | Intermediate | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| Melody Mist | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Mosquitos in Convention | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | Under 5 | ||
| My Neighbor's Radio | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | Under 5 | ||
| My Rocking Chair | Piano | Advanced | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| On a Summer's Eve | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| On the Top of a Tree | Piano | Intermediate | 1 | No | Solo | ||
| Piano Sonata in E Minor | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Placid Lake | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Pop Corn | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Rabbit Foot | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Rainbow Waltz | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Retrospection | Organ | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Reverie | Piano | 1 | No | Solo | |||
| Rhapsody in Eb Major | Piano | Advanced | 1 | No | Solo |