About the Composer:
Florence Price (1887-1953) was a groundbreaking African-American composer and pianist who became the first Black woman to have a symphony performed by a major United States orchestra. Born in Arkansas and educated at the New England Conservatory, Price faced racial and gender discrimination but produced over 300 works, blending classical European traditions, with African-American spirituals and folk melodies. After her death, her works fell into somewhat obscurity due to changing musical tastes, as well as the obvious racial and gender discrimination. In 2009, a vast collection of her manuscripts were discovered in an abandoned dilapidated house that Price had used as a vacation home. Fortunately, this has lead to a major re-evaluation of her works across the world, and her music is now performed much more regularly than ever before.
Artistic Director's Notes:
Although Florence Price wrote a lot of music for orchestra, I decided to choose this shorter piece. Adoration is originally written for the Organ in 1951 and was published in the collection The Organ Portfolio in that year. This version of the piece was arranged for orchestra by the American composer Elaine Fine, and we are having the solo part performed on Violin by Hayley Leach. Hayley usually plays Viola with us, so this is a chance for us to hear her play on a different instrument. I do love the simplicity of the solo part - very much a reflection of Price's use of simple folk-like melodies, but I also like the subtle references to an Afro-American heritage, especially in the Blues-like harmonies that appear in a few places.
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