About this episode

Kate Molleson explores the life and music of Florence Price, highlighting her challenges and achievements as an African American composer.

Kate Molleson explores the life and music of Florence Price, joined by pianist and scholar Samantha Ege. From her childhood in Little Rock, where family, education and the realities of racial segregation shaped her early ambitions, Price’s story unfolds through persistence, reinvention and growing recognition. Moving through her years of study and early career, we hear how she drew on African American musical traditions while navigating the social and political pressures around her. In Chicago, she found a vibrant artistic community and new opportunities, leading to orchestral success and national visibility. In her later years, recognition remained uneven, and her music continued to evolve in the face of resistance and neglect, with works still coming to light long after her death. Music featured includes: Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint: No. 4 Shortnin’ Bread Violin Concerto No. 2 Symphony No. 4 in D minor (extract) Scenes in Tin Can Alley: Children at Play Fantasie Nègre No. 1 in E minor Fantasie Nègre No. 2 in G minor String Quartet No. 2 in A minor – Finale Concert Overture No. 2 Adoration Fantasie No. 2 in F sharp minor A Day in the Life of a Washerwoman Fantasie No. 1 in G…

People in this episode

Host: Kate Molleson

Guest: Samantha Ege

Topics covered

• Florence Price
• African American music
• racial segregation
• musical traditions
• artistic community
• orchestral success
• music evolution

Keywords

• Florence Price
• music
• African American traditions
• racial segregation
• Chicago
• orchestral success
• piano
• classical music

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: BBC Radio 3

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