I puzzled about what to do for this last dispatch for Black History Month. I had two directions to go in, both of which were influenced by the fact that I have only really been tolerating two types of music for the last week: house and classical. I could either do a mixtape of Black women in house music, or I could do an introduction to a Black classical composer. I chose the latter, both as a challenge to myself as well as a change of pace for the newsletter. I don’t spend a lot of time talking about classical here, even though I actually do spend a lot of time listening to it. If you do not consider yourself to be a classical person, I think that the woman we’re talking about this week is a good introductory point.

The woman of the hour is Florence Price. If you keep up with the classical world, her name might be familiar to you because her work has been getting more and more attention in recent years, as it is being played by more and more symphonies and classical artists. Trained as a pianist, organist, and composer, Price is the first Black woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer and she is the first Black woman to have her music played by a major orchestra. (Symphony No. 1 in E Minor was played by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1932.)

Born in 1887, Price gave her first piano performance at the age of 4 and published her first composition at the age of 11. She continued to play the piano, earning admission to the New England Conservatory of Music after graduating high school at the age of 14. There, she majored in piano pedagogy and organ performance, with the intention of becoming a music teacher. That is what she did in the following years, working with students in Little Rock, Arkansas. She then took a job at Clark Atlanta University, where she served as the head of the music department. In Atlanta, she married her husband, Thomas Price. After they married, she moved back to Little Rock and had two daughters.

When the racism of the South became too much, the Price family became one of the many thousands who partook in the Great Migration, relocating to Chicago, Illinois. There, Price began to study composition. In 1928, she released four piano pieces, and her professional composition career began. For the rest of her life—she passed in 1953—Price wrote hundreds of pieces, including choral works, symphonies, pieces for quartets, and various works for voice and piano. She was widely performed by various symphonies. She is especially known for the pieces she wrote for Marian Anderson, a groundbreaking Black contralto.

Following her passing, her work was played less and less, being mostly forgotten as the musical trends changed. But during her life, she opened doors for Black people in the extremely white world of classical music. As Black artists started to gain more acknowledgement toward the turn of the millennium, so did Price. Her renaissance began in 2001, when the Women’s Philharmonic, based in San Francisco, recorded an album of her work. More attention came when hundreds of her compositions were found in an abandoned house in St. Anne, Illinois, which was Price’s summer house. It was then that the classical music world really began to celebrate Price as they could see the full scope of her genius.

This week, I’m going to discuss four pieces of music that show the various sides of Price’s work and the innovative ways she merged the Black and classical worlds.

This is the piece that helped her breakthrough, and that success is duly deserved. In this piece, you can hear the echoes of European composers like Dvořák, but her work is not slavishly devoted to such tradition. The music is infused with a drive and rhythm that comes from the Black music tradition, particularly the spiritual tradition. And in referencing that tradition, there is a tension between the pride of being Black combined with the racism and segregation that defined America at the time she wrote this piece.

The first movement is a lively, tense piece that passes into the slower, more contemplative second movement. The third movement references the juba, a Black folk dance. The spirit is lively and the music makes reference to contemporary forms such as jazz as well as the Great Migration, with the train sounds interspersed throughout. The symphony ends quickly with melodies that recall the tensions presented at the beginning of the piece. It is an absolutely remarkable symphony, one that deserves its place in the American canon.

While it has been reecorded several times, the best recording I’ve heard of it is by The Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Yannick Néset-Séguin. It is available on your streaming service of choice.

As I noted in the quick biography above, Price majored in piano performance, and she wrote numerous pieces for the instrument. This piece debuted in 1929, played by Margaret Bonds, a woman with an illustrious history of her own. This composition is very challenging, requiring players to have the ability to play technical sequences with both delicacy and force. While you can hear the European influence, this piece, even more than the First Symphony, highlights how her composition style takes heavily from the spiritual tradition.

At various points in the music, you can hear the repetition of the melody from “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down” as well as the driving rhythm of spirituals more generally. It is a truly bold solo piano piece that highlights what Price could do with one of her instruments of choice.

So, I’ve covered the symphony and the solo piece. Now, we get into the string quartet. The title of the suite tells you exactly what is happening. I shouldn’t have to say much on that front. The music in this particular suite is fantastic. These are songs that are well known, but to hear them played in counterpoint brings new levels of depth and emotion to the music.

My favorite performance from this suite is the final piece, where Price reworks “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” which is a very moving song in normal circumstances. The piece starts with the cello playing the melody before the violins and viola join. Price’s composition is heartfelt, showing a true reverence for the power that the song contains. In addition, Price builds the song like you would hear it in church. The first round of the song is slow and building. As the verses go on, the tempo gets faster, and by the end, everyone in the building is feeling the true power of the song. It’s a standout rendition in a suite full of them.

One of Florence Price’s greatest supporters was Marian Anderson, who I referenced in the introduction. Anderson frequently performed Price’s work, and one of her favorite pieces from Price was her arrangement of “I Am Bound for de Kingdom,” a traditional spiritual.

This song serves as a beautiful display for Anderson’s masterful control and tone. With the sparse piano line, Anderson’s voice is allowed to carry the hope that comes from the freedom of death. It’s moving in many ways, and a fantastic display of how much respect Price and Anderson have for the form of the spiritual.

So, with the voice of Marian Anderson, I end Black Music Month here at The Rinse. I hope that you have enjoyed reading about the artists and getting into the world of Black music. Next month is Women’s History Month, and as tradition dictates, we’re talking about only women. I already know what is going to happen in the month, so I can just tell you now.

The first piece is going to be a review of the Margo Price concert I’m going to in Minneapolis on Sunday. Her music is great, and I’m sure that this will be an extremely fun show to talk about. The second piece will be a tribute to Éliane Radigue, an experimental electronic artist who recently passed. I’ve knew about her before her passing due to my fascination with new age music. Her work is durational and fascinating. I was listening to her Trilogie de la Mort recently, and when I finished the first piece—it has a runtime of an hour—I knew I had to talk about her.

The Spins, following two months of not really happening because of lack of content (January) and theme (February), are coming back in March. Music made by women will get the priority, but I’ll also talk about one or two men who also made something cool.

Alright, I think that is everything. Please take care of yourselves and each other. Pet a dog or cat if they are OK with it. And, as always, FDT. (Link NSFW)