Return to search

Selected solo piano music of Florence B. Price (1887-1953)

Florence B. Price, a black composer, was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1887 and died in Chicago, Illinois in 1953. She was among the first black American composers to achieve international recognition. A dedicated professional, Price distinguished herself throughout her lifetime, first during her student days in Boston at the New England Conservatory, next as an educator in Southern universities, and finally as a Chicago-based composer and performer. Of Price's concert works for piano, which include a prize-winning solo sonata, several character pieces, two concerti, and a quintet, few were published during her lifetime, and only one is currently in print. / This treatise is intended to acknowledge the contributions of Florence Price to American piano repertoire. Careful consideration is given to significant cultural and political forces which shaped American history and consequently shaped the professional lives of American composers in the early twentieth century. Central to the stylistic discussion is the analysis of three of Price's major solo piano works: Fantasie Negre, Sonata in E Minor, and Dances in the Canebrakes. / Florence Price was an American nationalist. Like her contemporaries William Grant Still, George Gershwin, and Aaron Copland, she successfully incorporated elements of Negro folk music into Western art music. The fact that most of Price's concert works are presently still in manuscript is largely due to the extremely limited publication opportunities for the work of a black woman composer in early twentieth century America. Upon analysis, it becomes clear that Price's piano music merits publication and performance. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-04, Section: A, page: 1175. / Major Professor: Leonard Mastrogiacomo. / Thesis (D.M.A.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_77414
ContributorsHolzer, Linda Ruth., Florida State University
Source SetsFlorida State University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText
Format99 p.
RightsOn campus use only.
RelationDissertation Abstracts International

Page generated in 0.0019 seconds