Classical Music Playlist, March 14, 2024
The September 2021 Deutsche Grammophon recording of Florence Price symphonies
This Women's History Month CapRadio highlights a different woman in music each weekday. Today's classical spotlight is on Florence Price.
- Born in 1887 in Little Rock, American composer Florence Price began performing and composing in her childhood, graduated high school first in her class, studied at the New England Conservatory and graduated with honors in 1906.
- Her first symphony and a piano sonata won first prizes in their categories in a 1932 competition.
- Part of the prize for that first symphony was a performance of it the next year by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, making it the first symphony by an African American woman to be performed by a major orchestra.
- Price trailblazed many firsts, but she was not the first woman or the first African American to be ignored. Though she faced obstacles, she also enjoyed some success in her lifetime.
- Following her death at age 66 in 1953, her legacy faded from the mainstream. But now more than 70 years later, especially following discovery of a trove of her missing and unknown compositions in 2009, her music is receiving wide recognition “on merit alone,” instead of on race and gender, as Price urged in a 1943 letter to a famous conductor.
- For more about Florence Price, here’s a detailed article by Price scholar Samantha Ege.
Commissioned by the Federal Government during the Great Depression and composed in the midst of the Chicago Renaissance of great Black writers and artists including Langston Hughes and Margaret Bonds, the Florence Price Symphony No. 3 is today’s Midday Masterpiece as we highlight Price and her music throughout the day for Women’s History Month.
6:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 4 in F major Opus 3/4a HWV 315
The English Concert; Trevor Pinnock, conductor
6:12 a.m.
Florence Price
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor
Catalyst Quartet
6:45 a.m.
Emmanuel Chabrier
Festive Polonaise (Le Roi Malgre Lui: Fete Polonaise)
Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra; Herve Niquet, conductor
6:54 a.m.
Johannes Brahms
Hungarian Dance No. 6 in D major
Berlin Philharmonic; Herbert Von Karajan, conductor
7:00 a.m.
Frederic Chopin
Concert Rondo "Krakowiak" in F major Opus 14
Warsaw Philharmonic; Antoni Wit, conductor Eldar Nebolsin, piano
7:15 a.m.
Bernhard Crusell
Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in F minor Opus 5
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra; Okko Kamu, conductor Martin Frost, clarinet
7:39 a.m.
Florence Price
Fantasie Negre (No. 1) in E minor
Lara Downes, piano
7:46 a.m.
Ethel Smyth
Serenade in D: II. Scherzo. Allegro vivace in D major
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Odaline de la Martinez, conductor Tasmin Little, violin; John Lenehan, piano
7:54 a.m.
John Williams
Hook: Flight to Neverland
Boston Pops Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
8:00 a.m.
John Ireland
Epic March
London Symphony Orchestra; Richard Hickox, conductor
8:11 a.m.
Chilly Gonzales
Prelude in C Sharp Major
Alice Sara Ott, piano
8:14 a.m.
George Enescu
Romanian Rhapsody No. 1 in A major Opus 11
National Orchestra of France; Cristian Macelaru, conductor Yuja Wang, piano
8:20 a.m.
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Piano Concerto No. 5 "Emperor": III. Rondo in Eb major Opus 73
Bavarian Radio Symphony; Kurt Sanderling, conductor Mitsuko Uchida, piano
8:32 a.m.
Florence Price
Dances in the Canebrakes
Chicago Sinfonietta; Mei-Ann Chen, conductor
8:46 a.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 in F minor
Budapest Symphony Orchestra; Andras Korodi, conductor
8:59 a.m.
Mikhail Glinka
Spanish Overture No. 2
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra; Vassily Sinaisky, conductor
9:10 a.m.
Bela Bartok
Romanian Folk Dances SZ 56
Les Violons du Roy; Jean-Marie Zeitouni, conductor
9:21 a.m.
Florence Price
Violin Concerto No. 1: I. Allegro moderato in D major
Philadelphia Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor Randall Goosby, violin
9:39 a.m.
Neil Gladd
The Goldberg Rag
Ugo Orlandi, mandolin; Claudio Mandonico, piano; Daniele Bosio, tuba
9:41 a.m.
William Bolcom
Ghost Rag: I. Graceful Ghost
Spencer Meyer, piano
9:49 a.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Piano Concerto No. 1: III. Allegro Scherzando in F# minor Opus 1
Cologne New Philharmonic Orchestra; Volker Hartung, conductor Oleg Poliansky, piano
10:00 a.m.
George Friederich Handel
Concerto Grosso No. 2 in F major Opus 6/2 HWV 320
Boston Baroque; Martin Pearlman, conductor
10:12 a.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Symphony No. 7 in D minor Opus 70
Los Angeles Philharmonic; Gustavo Dudamel, conductor Bomsori Kim, violin
10:47 a.m.
Andrew York
Spin
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
10:56 a.m.
Percy Grainger
Mock Morris
Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor
11:01 a.m.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Serenade No. 10 for winds "Gran Partita": I. Largo - Allegro Molto in Bb major K 361
Amadeus Winds; Christopher Hogwood, conductor
11:11 a.m.
Florence Price
"mini" Quintet for Piano and Strings in E minor
Catalyst Quartet Michelle Cann, piano
11:24 a.m.
Gabriel Faure
Masques and Bergamasques Opus 112
Lyon National Orchestra; Emmanuel Krivine, conductor
11:38 a.m.
John Williams
Summon the Heroes
Boston Pops Orchestra; John Williams, conductor
11:48 a.m.
Johann Strauss, Jr.
DIE FLEDERMAUS Overture (The Bat)
Berlin Philharmonic; Herbert Von Karajan, conductor
11:59 a.m.
Florence Price
Piano Concerto in One Movement
Chineke! Orchestra; Leslie Suganandarajah, conductor Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, piano
12:18 p.m.
Antonin Dvorak
Slavonic Dance No. 7 in C major Opus 72
Cleveland Orchestra; Christoph Von Dohnanyi, conductor
12:26 p.m.
Sergei Rachmaninoff
Symphony No. 3: III. Allegro in A minor Opus 44
Detroit Symphony Orchestra; Leonard Slatkin, conductor
12:40 p.m.
Bedrich Smetana
BARTERED BRIDE: Overture
Janacek Philharmonic; Theodore Kuchar, conductor
12:50 p.m.
Antonio Vivaldi
Concerto for 2 trumpets in C major RV 537
English Chamber Orchestra; Simon Preston, conductor Hannes Laubin, trumpet; Wolfgang Laubin, trumpet
1:00 p.m.
Florence Price
Piano Quintet in A minor
Catalyst Quartet Michelle Cann, piano
1:28 p.m.
Franz Von Suppe
Light Cavalry Overture
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields; Neville Marriner, conductor
1:37 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto in G minor BWV 1056
Amsterdam Bach Solisten; Thomas Zehetmair, conductor Thomas Zehetmair, violin
1:48 p.m.
Camille Saint-Saens
Rhapsodie d'Auvergne Opus 73
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; Andre Previn, conductor Jean-Philippe Collard, piano
1:59 p.m.
Florence Price
Symphony No. 3
Philadelphia Orchestra; Yannick Nezet-Seguin, conductor
2:32 p.m.
Chilly Gonzales
Contretemps
Alice Sara Ott, piano
2:39 p.m.
Franz Liszt
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 "Carnival in Pest" in D major
Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra; Ondrej Lenard, conductor
2:53 p.m.
Leo Delibes
Sylvia: Procession of Bacchus from Act III
San Francisco Symphony; Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor
3:00 p.m.
Richard Wagner
TANNHAUSER Overture
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Jesus Lopez-Cobos, conductor
3:16 p.m.
George Friederich Handel
SERSE: "Ombra mai fu"
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment; Harry Bicket, conductor Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano
3:23 p.m.
Florence Price
Violin Concerto No. 2
Royal Scottish National Orchestra; Jonathon Heyward, conductor Rachel Barton Pine, violin
3:39 p.m.
John Williams
Theme from The Patriot
Boston Pops Orchestra; Keith Lockhart, conductor Middlesex County Fifes & Drums
3:52 p.m.
John Field
Rondo for piano & strings in Ab major
London Mozart Players; Matthias Bamert, conductor Miceal O'Rourke, piano
4:01 p.m.
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto for oboe and violin in C minor BWV 1060
Tafelmusik; Jeanne Lamon, conductor John Abberger, oboe
4:16 p.m.
Connor Chee
Navajo Vocable No. 4
Angelica Hairston, harp
4:23 p.m.
Georges Bizet
L'Arlesienne Suite No. 2
Ulster Orchestra; Yan Pascal Tortelier, conductor
4:41 p.m.
Florence Price
Fantasie Negre No. 4
Lara Downes, piano
4:50 p.m.
Johann Strauss, Jr.
Artist's Life Opus 316 Kunstlerleben
Chicago Symphony Orchestra; Fritz Reiner, conductor
4:59 p.m.
Florence Price
Symphony No. 1 in E minor
Chineke! Orchestra; Roderick Cox, conductor
5:41 p.m.
Phil Rosheger
Good Luck Waltz
David Russell, guitar
5:44 p.m.
Earl Wild
Grand Fantasie on Porgy and Bess: Summertime (After G. Gershwin)
San Francisco Symphony; Herbert Blomstedt, conductor Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
5:49 p.m.
Gabriela Lena Frank
Leyendas: VI. Coqueteos
Del Sol String Quartet
5:54 p.m.
Dmitri Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5: II. Allegretto in D minor Opus 47
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Yoel Levi, conductor
6:01 p.m.
Florence Price
Piano Sonata in E minor
Michelle Cann, piano
6:27 p.m.
Dobrinka Tabakova
Concerto for Cello and Strings: II. Longing
Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra; Maxim Rysanov, conductor Kristina Blaumane, cello
6:37 p.m.
Malcolm Arnold
Four Scottish Dances Opus 59
Dallas Wind Symphony; Jerry Junkin, conductor
6:49 p.m.
Libby Larsen
Sorrow Song and Jubilee
Apollo Chamber Players
6:55 p.m.
Libby Larsen
Blue Piece
Lara Downes, piano; Rachel Barton Pine, violin
