Resignation, Florence Price, arr. Trecek-King (SA & piano), G. Schirmer
I had the pleasure of premiering this new two-part arrangement at the SWACDA conference in Florence Price’s hometown of Little Rock Arkansas. It is based a combination of the solo vocal and the SATB version of her work. While this is not a traditional spiritual, it carries many of the same characteristics of a spiritual. If you are looking for a piece that is accessible from the Price catalog, check this one out.
Her music combines a rich and romantic symphonic idiom with the melodic intimacy and emotional intensity of African-American spirituals. As Alex Ross wrote in The New Yorker, her music “deserves to be widely heard.”
From G. Schirmer’s website: Born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1887, Price received early training on the piano from her mother, a music teacher. She went on to attend the New England Conservatory, one of few higher musical institutions accepting African-American students. There, she studied composition and counterpoint with George Chadwick and Frederick Converse, and graduated in 1906 with both an artistic diploma in organ and a teaching certificate. After years teaching music privately and serving as the head of the music department at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, Price returned to Little Rock, then moved to Chicago, where she advanced her musical studies under Arthur Olaf Andersen, Carl Busch, Wesley LaViolette, and Leo Sowerby.
Also available is “I’m On My Way” published by Walton Music Publishing