Various Composers - Uncovered, Vol. 2 (Catalyst Quartet)

Information

Composer: Florence Price

• Piano Quintet in A Minor
• Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet
• String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor
• 5 Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet
• String Quartet in G Major (Unfinished)
• Piano Quintet in E Minor

Catalyst Quartet

    Karla Donehew Perez, violin

    Abi Fayette, violin

    Paul Laraia, viola

    Karlos Rodriguez, cello

Michelle Cann, piano

Date: 2022

Label: Azica Records

https://azica.com/albums/uncovered-vol-2-florence-price/

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Review

Where has Florence Price been all our lives? Waiting for the world to open its ears and consciences to composers beyond the bounds of conventional musical wisdom, meaning works by deceased (mostly) European males. Price (1887-1953) is among a growing number of composers of colour who are receiving a rush of performances and recordings, partly due to increased calls for racial equity but also because musicians are realising how much they (and audiences) have missed out by not exploring this repertoire.

The Catalyst Quartet began such a journey in its series ‘Uncovered’ for Azica Records with an absorbing programme of music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (4/21US). Price is the subject of the second volume, which includes six chamber works, including four receiving their first recordings. These scores show the Arkansas-born composer to be a master of her craft who imbues everything with an abundance of feeling and energy. She weaves her many sources – from Spirituals and folk elements to Brahms, Dvořák and even Rachmaninov – seamlessly into the fabrics while shaping forceful, poignant and inventive narratives.

Price’s Quintet in A minor for piano and strings begins with a richly expressive Allegro non troppo followed by three shorter movements, the second of which is one of her irresistible excursions into the African dance form known as the juba. Another such example appears in the String Quartet in A minor, which is structured similarly to the quintet.

Two other works for string quartet, Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint and Five Folksongs in Counterpoint, reveal the wondrous sonic and harmonic imagination Price cast on familiar pieces. The remaining scores, the String Quartet in G minor (unfinished) and another Quintet for piano and strings (possibly unfinished), also deserve attention for their vibrant and poetic interplay.

As on the Coleridge-Taylor album, the Catalyst Quartet play Price’s music with superb thrust and nuance, and they are joined in the quintets by Michelle Cann, a pianist of sterling artistry.

-- Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone

More reviews:
https://www.ft.com/content/4e3798d9-a07e-403a-ae36-726b9ee56843

https://limelight-arts.com.au/reviews/uncovered-vol-2-florence-b-price-catalyst-quartet-michelle-cann/

https://www.thewholenote.com/index.php/booksrecords2/classicalabeyond/31725-uncovered-volume-2-florence-b-price-catalyst-quartet

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Florence Price (April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical composer. She was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music, and was active in Chicago from 1927 until her death. Price is noted as the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. She composed over 300 works, including four symphonies, four concertos, as well as choral works, art songs, chamber music and music for solo instruments. Price received praise for the blending of western education and African American culture in her music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Price

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The Catalyst Quartet was founded by the internationally acclaimed Sphinx Organization in 2010. The Quartet has toured widely throughout the US and abroad, including sold-out performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Chicago’s Harris Theater, Miami’s New World Center, and Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall in New York. The Catalyst Quartet’s recordings span the ensemble’s scope of interests and artistry. Its largest ongoing project, UNCOVERED, is a set of albums on Azica Records that celebrates composers of color whose works have been overlooked by the traditional canon.

https://catalystquartet.com/

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