Price: Symphony No. 3, The Mississippi River & Ethiopia's Shadow in America

Featuring

John Jeter
ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien
Florence Beatrice Price

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Historical Context

During the 1930s Great Depression, Price participated in the Works Progress Administration's (WPA) Federal Music Project, a New Deal initiative supporting musicians and providing community concerts.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Price intended her Third Symphony to be 'Negroid in character and expression' but without directly quoting existing folk songs, aiming to project her cultural heritage within a symphonic framework.

Composition History

Price's Symphony in E minor and Ethiopia's Shadow in America won awards in a 1932 competition for Black composers sponsored by the National Association of Negro Musicians.

Recording & Production

This album includes the world premiere recording of Florence Price's Ethiopia's Shadow in America.

Performer Biography

The ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra (ORF Vienna RSO) is known for its exceptional programming, combining 19th-century repertoire with contemporary and rarely performed works, and regularly broadcasts its performances on radio.

Compositional Technique

Price's Third Symphony incorporates 'the spiritualistic theme' and 'the strongly syncopated rhythms of the Juba' to bring African American cultural heritage into her symphonic music.

Composer Biography

Florence Beatrice Price, affectionately called 'Bea', was one of the most versatile and accomplished American musicians of her generation, born in Little Rock, Arkansas.