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Florence Price, “Adoration”

Published by Patrick Reynolds on September 16, 2020September 16, 2020

About the Piece

Originally, written for the organ, Adoration is one of Florence Price’s best-known works, available in several different versions. Beginning in the 1930s, Price earned a living by playing organ in churches as well as in theatres. Adoration is a work of deep devotion and sincerity, a simple yet beautiful work in the string orchestra repertoire.

This is a welcome addition to the less technically challenging string orchestra repertoire. There are several other editions available, including versions by Jason McKinney (full orchestra), and Travis Freshner and Akiko Hosoi (string orchestra). Recordings of these, as well as the featured version by Elaine Fine, are found below. The score and parts for the Elaine Fine version are available at no cost through imslp.org.

About the Composer

Born in Little Rock, Ark., in 1887 to a mixed-race family, Florence Price was a talented pianist from a young age. She enrolled in the New England Conservatory of Music at 14, where she studied composition and graduated in 1907. She married a prominent civil rights attorney and returned to Little Rock, but racial violence caused her family to move to Chicago. In 1932, Price’s Symphony in E Minor won a composition prize, leading to its premiere by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra — the first composition by a black woman to be performed by a major orchestra.

About the Arranger

Elaine Fine began musical life as a violinist, but received a Bachelor of Music Degree in flute performance from The Juilliard School of Music, where she was a student of Julius Baker. She also studied recorder in Vienna, baroque flute in Boston, and composition at Eastern Illinois University. She spent 23 years on the reviewing staff of the American Record Guide, was the program annotator for the New Philharmonic of DuPage County, served for 12 years as the Classical Music Director for WEIU-FM, and taught at Lake Land College, in Mattoon, Illinois. She remains active as a composer and as a performing musician, playing violin, viola, viola d’amore, and recorders, and runs a private studio, teaching violin, viola, and recorder lessons.

Performance Materials

Perusal Score (PDF open in a new tab)

https://imslp.org/wiki/Adoration_(Price%2C_Florence) – Elaine Fine version

Recordings

(Version for String Orchestra by Elaine Fine)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_FUEYL5lq8 (Version for full orchestra – Jason McKinney)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7p8ZwFWJwg (Version for string orchestra – Travis Freshner)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD6rpfjYhjw (Version for string orchestra – Akiko Hosoi)

Categories: String Orchestra
Tags: 5 minutesComposer of colorString OrchestraWomen Composers

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