Florence Price (1887-1953)
Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major (1939)
Violin Concerto No. 2 in D major (1952)
Piano Concerto in One Movement in D minor (1933-1934)
Dances in the Canebrakes arr. William Grant Still (1953)
Fanny Clamagirand (violin), Han Chen (piano)
Malmö Opera Orchestra/John Jeter
rec. 2024, Malmö Opera House, Sweden
Naxos 8.559952 [74]

Although Florence Price had some success in her lifetime, after her death her work was forgotten, until the surge of interest in music by African American composers and by women, (and she was both) brought her renewed recognition.  The scores of these works, as of many others by Price, lay abandoned for many years before being rediscovered in 2009 and leading to performances and recordings.

The first violin concerto is the largest work here, in the normal three movements. It seems it was not performed in her lifetime. The first movement is lyrical, episodic rather than in traditional concerto first movement form. In idiom it derives from Dvořák and Tchaikovsky and owes nothing to the then contemporary neoclassical school represented by Stravinsky’s middle period and, in the USA, Copland.  The second movement is a slow one, meditative and lightly melancholic. The finale begins with some fireworks before settling down to a cheerful rondo.

In contrast to the first concerto, the second had several performances before and after Price’s death in 1953 before being forgotten. It is a much shorter work, in one movement though this goes through a variety of tempi and moods and is in a more modernistic idiom, which is not surprising in a much later work.

The piano concerto is the earliest work here and is also in one movement, though this breaks up into three sections respectively fast, slow and fast.  This was frequently performed in Price’s lifetime, sometimes with herself as soloist. This is an accessible and attractive piece.

Finally, we have Price’s Dances in the Canebrakes, which draw on African American dances. Price wrote these for piano, but they are here heard in a vivid orchestration by William Grant Still, to round off this rewarding programme.

The soloists here, Fanny Clamagirand in the violin concertos and Han Chen in the piano concerto, are thoroughly in command of the idiom and play well. John Jeter understands these pieces and conducts well but the orchestra is a bit rough, and some passages sound as if they could have done with an extra rehearsal. The sound is good and the booklet informative. All these works have been recorded before, but not brought conveniently together as they are here, so listeners might feel it is worth putting up with the occasional roughness to get all three works so economically. For those wanting to explore Price’s work further, her three extant symphonies have been recorded by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra on DG, and there are also a number of recordings of her chamber and piano music.

Stephen Barber

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