Florence PRICE (1887-1953)
Ethiopia’s Shadow in America (1932) [13:45]
Piano Concerto in One Movement (1934) [17:06]
Valerie COLEMAN (b. 1970)
Umoja: Anthem of Unity (2019) [13:28]
Jessie MONTGOMERY (b. 1981)
Soul Force (2015) [8:32]
Michelle Cann (piano)
New York Youth Symphony/Michael Repper
rec. 15-18 November 2020, Mary Flagler Cary Hall, DiMenna Center, New York
AVIE AV2503 [52:51]
This CD celebrates the music of three Black American women composers, of whom Florence Price is the best known and who has been receiving increased exposure on disc and in concert of late. I was unfamiliar with both Jessie Montgomery and Valerie Coleman before I auditioned this CD, but will want to investigate other works of theirs as well.
Florence Price, born in Little Rock, Arkansas and graduating with honors from the New England Conservatory, composed her most substantial works after she and her family moved to Chicago. It was there where both of the works on this disc were written, as well as her symphonies. It has been only recently that her music has become known to the wider classical music public. Being African-American and a woman, she had two strikes against her being performed by major orchestras though the Chicago Symphony premiered her first symphony. In 2009 many manuscripts of hers were recovered from an abandoned house in Illinois that she occupied as a summer home. Thus, her merit as a serious composer may now be judged more thoroughly. The two pieces here are I think representative of her best work and demonstrate even with the influence of the German Romantics and Dvořák a voice of her own.
Ethiopia’s Shadow in America is a three-movement symphonic poem with the movements all connected. Price provided a description of the movements, as follows: “The Arrival of the Negro in America when first brought here as a slave: Introduction—Allegretto;” “His Resignation and Faith: Andante;” and “His Adaptation: Allegro. A fusion of his native and acquired impulses.” The work begins solemnly with a clarinet solo over lower brass before the full orchestra with powerful brass and timpani create a dramatic atmosphere. Later in the movement the music quickens and lightens up with a folk-like dance punctuated by woodblock and pizzicato strings. The second movement is a lament commenced by solo violin and strings that recalls the spiritual, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” Woodwinds and horns have beautiful solo parts in this movement, too, and are performed exquisitely here. The third movement contrasts with an easygoing swing in its dance rhythm and the percussion, including woodblock and snare drum, are notable here. After the work’s opening theme is recalled, the piece concludes with a real punch by the full orchestra with cymbals and bass drum. I compared this recording with another of Ethiopia’s Shadow in America by John Jeter and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony on Naxos and found both to be excellent. If anything, this young American orchestra is the better of the two with superb woodwind and brass soloists and more vibrant sound.
The Piano Concerto in One Movement is somewhat a misnomer, as it contains three distinct sections that are played without a break following the practice of Liszt and Mendelssohn. Price premiered the concerto as soloist in 1934 in Chicago, after which the work disappeared from performance. Parts of the score were discovered in 2009 along with additional music of hers, as indicated above. Other parts surfaced at an auction house and the whole concerto was reconstructed from these parts. The CD booklet refers to this as ”the original version of 1934,” but I am unaware of any other version of the piece. In any case, it is a fun work with no little bravura and played to the hilt by Michelle Cann, who performed it earlier this year with the Philadelphia Orchestra and is scheduled to play it again next year with the National Symphony in Washington, DC.
The influence of Liszt, as well as that of Schumann, Dvořák, and Grieg, is apparent especially in the first section of the concerto which begins with a trumpet solo followed by woodwinds and a big Lisztian cadenza. The orchestra reenters with a pentatonic main subject D minor that reminds me of Dvořák in his folk vein. The concerto is well constructed with quite a virtuoso piano part and later in the first section a martial Lisztian theme. The second section commences with a slow, minor key melody leading to a lighter one in D major that is folk-like accompanied by oboe and flute. There are some blues chords here that give it a Gershwin flavour, but the third section really comes to life with a jazzy dance and shades of barroom music! As Dr. Samantha Ege states in the booklet notes, “Price’s rhythmic writing imitates a body percussion style known as the pattin’ juba, which the enslaved performed for their own leisure on plantations.” This delightful, stomping dance builds to a decisive conclusion bringing the concerto to its end with a flourish. If Cann does not “own” the concerto with her past and future performances, she surely conquers it and seems to be having fun doing so. This attractive work would make a nice change from the nineteenth and early twentieth-century warhorses that are so frequently dragged out.
Valerie Coleman, a graduate of Mannes College of Music and student of flutist Julius Baker, among others, is particularly well known as a flutist and creator of the wind quintet, Imani Winds. She has composed many works for chamber forces that include flute and other woodwinds. Umoja, in fact was originally scored as a simple song for women’s choir in 1997. Then Coleman arranged it for wind quintet in 2001, two years later for wind sextet, and in 2008 for concert band. The orchestral version here appeared two decades after its original incarnation. The name Umoja is Swahili for “unity,” and according to Coleman, “the first principle of the African Diaspora holiday Kwanzaa.”
Umoja: Anthem of Unity begins quietly on strings and bowed vibraphone before the solo violin enters with a simple tune influenced by Appalachian folk music. The work contains much variety, though, from Coplandesque rhythmic passages reminiscent of that composer’s “cowboy” ballets to a figure in the bass that could have come straight from John Adams’ Lollapalooza. After much joyous celebration there is a pause followed by quiet music by the woodwinds, primarily oboe and bassoon. Umoja concludes on a mezzo-forte chord with a slight crescendo. This is not difficult music to enjoy and is superbly orchestrated. The New York Youth Symphony under Michael Repper handle it extremely well. As with many so-called youth orchestras today, it is hard to tell the difference between their playing and that of the established ensembles. Any lack of experience is more than made up by their palpable enthusiasm and ability.
Jessie Montgomery, the youngest of the three composers here, has established a reputation as a creator of orchestral music judged by the frequency which she has been programmed in the US. Raised in New York City, she studied violin and holds a bachelor’s degree in violin performance from the Juilliard School and a master’s degree in composition for film and multimedia from New York University. She currently serves as composer-in-residence for the Sphinx Virtuosi. The title of her orchestral work Soul Force was taken from Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech: “We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” The composition was commissioned by the Dream Unfinished, a benefit for civil rights.
Soul Force covers a lot of ground in its relatively short span. It starts impressively with a percussion assault on drums, woodblock, and cymbals before a soulful bassoon solo is heard with percussion accompanying and followed by the horn. For me, though, the rest of the work does not quite live up to this beginning. There are passages recalling Copland, a clarinet theme that seems Eastern in origin, and a Big Band theme. The music then quiets down and one expects it to end there, but a thwack of percussion gets the last word. There are clearly good things in this piece, but I am not sure how well it coheres as a whole. Nevertheless, the musicians clearly have its measure.
Overall, this album is commendable as a programme unique to the discography, including the world premiere of Price’s Piano Concerto. I cannot imagine the works being performed better than they are here and in resplendent sound. Avie has contributed a quality product with a colourful bi-fold album and all-too-brief notes by musicologist Ege on Florence Price and by Valerie Coleman and Jessie Montgomery on their pieces. There is also information on the performers and a list of the orchestra members, who deserve the acknowledgement. A more detailed discussion would have benefited listeners unfamiliar with these composers.
Leslie Wright
