Symphony No. 4 in d minor

Composer: PRICE, Florence
  • Florence Price composed this symphony in 1945. However, the work remained unperformed during her lifetime, and unlike many of her other works, we do not know of a competition or performance opportunity which may have motivated this composition.1 
    • The symphony premiered in May of 2018, performed by the Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra under the direction of John Jeter.2
  • Listen for: In the first movement, Price briefly quotes the spiritual Wade in the Water, then proceeds to develop and transform short motives from the melody in the rest of the movement.3
  • In the place of the traditional symphonic third-movement scherzo or minuet, Price opted for an African-American vernacular dance form for her symphony’s third movement: Juba.4 She did the same in her Symphony No. 3 in c minor. 

Sources

  1. Douglas Shadle, liner notes to Florence Beatrice Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4, Fort Smith Symphony, John Jeter, Naxos 8.559827, CD, 2019.
  2. Alex Ross, “The Rediscovery of Florence Price,” The New Yorker (January 29, 2018), accessed June 8, 2021, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/02/05/the-rediscovery-of-florence-price. 
  3. Shadle, liner notes to Florence Beatrice Price: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4.
  4. Ibid.

Cut IDs

22512