Florence B. Price (1887-1953)
By La Jolla Symphony & Chorus
December 5, 2018
La Jolla Symphony & Chorus (LJS&C) continues a season-long
exploration of the theme "Lineage" with its second concert of the
2018-19 series. Steven Schick will conduct orchestra, chorus and
soloists in a celebration of the holidays, Dec. 8 and 9, 2018; at
Mandeville Auditorium on the UC San Diego campus, with Handel's
"Messiah," featuring the rarely performed arrangement by Mozart for
large orchestra.
The program will begin with Florence
Price's "Violin Concerto No. 2" — a recently re-discovered gem written
more than 65 years ago.
***
Price was a remarkable African-American composer that history nearly
forgot. Born in 1887 in Little Rock, she spent most of her career in
Chicago, achieving some success when her work was championed by the
Chicago Symphony in the 1930s. During her lifetime, she wrote over 300
works, including four symphonies, two violin concertos, a piano
concerto, piano music, and a large number of songs and choral
compositions.
Yet,
most of these remain unpublished. Price's music is only now being
discovered by audiences. The "Violin Concerto No. 2," composed in 1952,
received its orchestral premiere in February of this year by the
Arkansas Philharmonic, with Er-Gene Kahng soloing. The 14-minute
concerto is romantic, sweeping and melody-driven, with brilliant
passages for the violin soloist, performed in this concert by LJS&C
Concertmaster David Buckley.
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