Florence Price

by Chineke! Orchestra, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason

Overview

Fifteen years in advance of this 2023 release, the name of African-American composer Florence Price was known mostly to specialists in the field of African-American music in her native U.S. The discovery of a large cache of her manuscripts in 2009, which included the Piano Concerto in One Movement heard here, helped her reputation along, but of most importance has been the warmth and accessibility of her music, which approaches the fusion of European and African American elements in consistently fresh ways. The final section of the Piano Concerto in One Movement and the third "Juba" movement of the Symphony No. 1 lay on the syncopation, but that is not the only arrow in Price's quiver. Consider the concerto's second part (although titled "Concerto in One Movement," it has three distinct sections, marked by short pauses), which doesn't quote anything but has an indefinable air of African American song. Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason catches this and brings out how Price is often at her best when she is most subtle. Anyone who has attended some student recitals in the U.S. knows how young musicians have taken to Price's music, and it seems to fit Kanneh-Mason's personality nicely; there is a spontaneous, enthusiastic quality to her playing, and she is confident in the technically difficult, Rachmaninov-influenced music of the concerto's first movement. The Chineke! Orchestra lacks a certain snap in the really syncopated sections of the Symphony No. 1, but on balance, this is a recording likely to contribute to Price's growing international popularity; various factors cohere to make it a satisfying listen. ~ James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	08/11/2023
Label:	Decca
UPC:	0028948539963
Rank:	6866

Tracks

1. Piano Concerto in One Movement (D minor)~I. Andantino
2. Piano Concerto in One Movement (D minor)~II. Adagio cantabile
3. Piano Concerto in One Movement (D minor)~III. Andantino - Allegretto
4. Symphony No. 1 in E minor~I. Allegro ma non troppo
5. Symphony No. 1 in E minor~II. Largo, maestoso
6. Symphony No. 1 in E minor~III. Juba Dance: Allegro
7. Symphony No. 1 in E minor~IV. Finale: Presto
8. Ethiopia's Shadow in America~II. His Resignation and Faith (Andante)

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Chineke! Orchestra   Primary Artist,Orchestra
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason   Primary Artist,Piano
Roderick Cox   Conductor
Leslie Suganandarajah   Conductor

Technical Credits

Mike Hatch   Engineer
Tim Handley   Editing,Recording Producer
Helen Lewis   Executive Producer
Joanne Baines   A&R
Florence Price   Composer
Daniel Fesquet   Liner Note Translation
George Collins   Assistant Engineer
Chi-Chi Nwanoku   Executive Producer
Stefanie Schlatt   Liner Note Translation
Tom Lewington   Assistant Engineer
Jenny Stewart   Marketing
Samantha Ege   Liner Notes
Eduardus Lee   Photography
Joshua Mannall   Assistant Engineer
Hannah Firmin   Illustrations,Cover Illustration