CD REVIEW
– CHINEKE!
ORCHESTRA
FLORENCE PRICE
FEATURING JANEBA KANNEH-MASON
DECCA 4853996
[61.09]
This is a
fascinating release that I think
readers might like to
investigate. The African American
composer, pianist, organist and
music teacher, Florence B. Price
(1887-1953), was much admired in
her day, completing more than 300
works including orchestral music,
chamber pieces and songs.
Evidently many of these were only
discovered in 2009, rotting in
boxes at her former Illinois
summer house. She seemed to go
right off the radar after she
died but seven decades later,
much to our advantage, has been
rediscovered.
For me, the
opening number, 'Piano
Concerto in One Movement (D
Minor)', is highly
interesting as it is played by
Jeneba (b 2003), another
terrifically talented member of
the Kanneh-Mason family. It has
been reconstructed by Trevor
Weston after the loss of the
original manuscript. Despite the
title, there actually are the
traditional three movements
(fast-slow-fast). The second
evokes African American
spirituals – as Price does
in quite a lot of her composing
– and the last is very
jolly. An all-round winning
performance.
The history making
'First Symphony' is
reckoned to be among her best
work, being described as
"Dvorak's New World Symphony
meets Gershwin" (who was at
the first performance) and is
characteristic of all her
expressive melodic compositions,
some featuring extended
percussion such as swanee
whistle, tom-toms, celesta and
cathedral chimes. The third
movement is the enjoyable Juba
Dance, a pre-cursor to
ragtime.
The short final
track on the album is the second
movement of Ethiopia's Shadow
in America, which is
intended to portray the
Resignation and Faith of the
Negro when first brought to
America as a slave.
The splendid
Chineke! Orchestra is noteworthy
in that it was founded eight
years ago by principal double
bass player, Chi-Chi Nwanoku CBE,
to provide career opportunities
for Black and ethnically diverse
classical musicians in the UK and
Europe. It has built up a big
following from performing at the
BBC Proms. Roderick Cox is the
award-winning Germany-based
American conductor for the
symphony and the Sri
Lankan-German, Leslie
Suganandarajah, for the other two
works.
Although in rather small print,
there are four pages of very
useful booklet notes by
musicologist Dr Samantha Ege, who
spent two years reconstructing
Price's solo piano pieces.
If the above album
appeals, readers might also be
interested in another recent
release: Price's 'Violin
Concertos' coupled
with Max Bruch's 'Violin
Concerto No.1'
played by Randall Goosby
with the Philadelphia Orchestra
under Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Decca 485 4234 [73:50]
©
Peter Burt, June 2023
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