Essential Price
Born in Little Rock in the Southern US state of Arkansas in 1887, Florence Price (née Smith) occupies a pivotal position in the history of North American 20th-century music. In 1933, she became the first black woman to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiered her First Symphony, but her reputation declined quickly after her death in 1953. Much of her music – including her two violin concertos – was either simply unknown or presumed lost until several boxes of manuscripts and other documents were found in 2009; her Second Symphony is still lost. Recent research has highlighted how her position as a symbolic figure has sometimes led to us underestimating the originality and single-mindedness of her musical vision, which encompasses African folk song – fully and respectfully integrated – alongside superb control of structure and melodic flair. Recent years have seen the Price discography explode as more and more artists take an interest in her works in a trend that looks set only to grow further.