Evening Masterwork: Florence Price's Symphony in e-minor for January 25, 2023

Born in Arkansas in the late 19th-century, Florence B. Price’s music reflected the kind of romantic, nationalist quality of that time period, blended with her own cultural heritage as an African-American woman. Her Symphony No. 1, which she composed in 1931, is a perfect example of this. The first movement is based on two freely composed melodies reminiscent of spirituals. The second movement, though, is clearly influenced by the orchestral music of Antonin Dvorak. Hear it tonight at 7: our Evening Masterwork on Classical WSMR 89.1 and 103.9.