FLORENCE PRICE AND TRANQUILITY
The extraordinary turbulence, violence, and volatility of the year 2020 probably have left more than a few people indulging in pastoral fantasies and/or nostalgic reveries for peace and quiet, tranquility and nature, the sounds of children laughing and playing in a park, quiet walks, and scenes that quiet the soul. If you’re one of these people, then the suite titled Village Scenes for piano solo by Florence B. Price is music for you. The music has recently been recorded by Dr. Robin Arrigo, and the first-ever edition of the score is now available from G. Schirmer and Associated Music Publishers.
As an African American, Price was of course no stranger to turbulence — racist violence plagued her and her family during her time in Arkansas; the notorious Elaine Massacre took place just about an hour from the home where she and her first husband, Thomas, were raising their two daughters; and the family’s migration to Chicago was triggered in part by the lynching / burning-at-the-stake of John Carter on May 4, 1927, and more immediately by plans of Little Rock’s White community to murder a Black child — Price’s younger daughter, Florence Louise — in retribution for the murder of a White child in the community allegedly at the hands of a Black man.[1] The family found some relief from the southern tide of lynchings when they moved to Chicago — but even apart from its own serious crime problems, especially on the South side, Chicago was nobody’s idea of a quiet and tranquil place.
Small wonder, then, that Florence Price’s endlessly creative musical imagination turned to her art to give voice for reflections on the sort of pastoral tranquility that characterized her upbringing in the rural south. Her output is replete with compositions such as On a Quiet Lake,[1] Placid Lake,[2] Deserted Garden, “Lake Mirror” from Snapshots, Summer Moon,[3] Down a Southern Lane,[4] and of course the late masterpiece Clouds.[5]
And of course Village Scenes. This newly published suite, begun in late March 1942, comprises three movements. The first, “Church Spires in Moonlight,” mingles pianistic evocations of ringing church bells with impressionistic night-music and, in the middle section, deliciously blues-inflected melancholy. The second, “A Shaded Lane,” conjures up images of a leisurely stroll down a lane dappled with sunlight; and the concluding “The Park” evokes lively, sparkling fun as this is distinctly possible in small-town settings.
Village Scenes offers a glimpse of a different, and in some ways more relaxed, Florence Price than we know from the Fantasies nègres and of course the symphonies and concertos. But the richness and variety of her unstoppable musical imagination are everywhere evident. Here is Robin Arrigo’s performance of the piece:
Here’s a link to the program note for my edition of this previously unpublished suite — more formal information about the suite.
[1] See Rae Linda Brown, The Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price, ed. Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr. (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2020), 76–77.[2] Recording by Lara Downes here.[3] Recording by Lara Downes here. There is also a lovely new live reading of Summer Moon by Elizabeth G. Hill here.[4] Recording by Lara Downes here.[5] Recording by Lara Downes here.
Originally published at https://cooperm55.wixsite.com on July 13, 2020.
