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Florence Price's symphonies
Posted by Michael Bullivant Zimbabwe on December 16, 2021, 10:55 am
Thanks, Nick Barnard, for having the courage to prick the Florence Price bubble. I have listened to all three recorded symphonies several times over and, by and large, find them not merely conservative but dull. I’m a great lover of neglected romantics but really these works, the ‘jubas’ perhaps aside, hardly deserve the fuss, much less the praise bestowed on them. As for a Gramophone Recording of the Month, well, words fail me...
Re: Florence Price's symphonies
Posted by Ralph Moore on December 23, 2021, 9:50 am, in reply to "Florence Price's symphonies" Edited by board administrator December 23, 2021, 12:05 pm
Of course the second one demurs regarding the quality of this music, one is open to being accused of every "ism" in the book - but that's the point: one suspects that it is being promoted primarily as a virtue-signalling exercise - or perhaps, more mildly, for its historical interest and significance - but in fact having done the same as MB I must agree that the music is rather commonplace and uninteresting.
Just as I am completely indifferent to a composer's moral character, I do not care about his - or her - identity regarding gender, race etc. Just one question: is the music any good - or rather, do I enjoy it?
Previous Message
Thanks, Nick Barnard, for having the courage to prick the Florence Price bubble. I have listened to all three recorded symphonies several times over and, by and large, find them not merely conservative but dull. I’m a great lover of neglected romantics but really these works, the ‘jubas’ perhaps aside, hardly deserve the fuss, much less the praise bestowed on them. As for a Gramophone Recording of the Month, well, words fail me...
Wouldn't life be boring if we all liked the same thing, yet another Beethoven or Mozart recording! I remember the bad old days of recorded music retail when the reps would try to sell the usual repertoire on the flimsiest of recommendations. How wonderful it was when labels such as Hyperion and CPO, released some real discoveries which now enlighten my collection and musical taste! Yes, there is a place for standard repertoire, but surely there is more of a case for the likes of Florence Price, it might not be as wonderful as a well known masterpiece, but it deserves to be known, as it is only through recordings of this rare repertoire that the listener can make up their mind, I for one think, that whilst not masterpieces, the symphonies of Price serve as a historic testement to the development of American music, and in particular that of black composers, and has some enjoyable sections which deserve to be heard!
Previous Message
Of course the second one demurs regarding the quality of this music, one is open to being accused of every "ism" in the book - but that's the point: one suspects that it is being promoted primarily as a virtue-signalling exercise - or perhaps, more mildly, for its historical interest and significance - but in fact having done the same as MB I must agree that the music is rather commonplace and uninteresting.
Just as I am completely indifferent to a composer's moral character, I do not care about his - or her - identity regarding gender, race etc. Just one question: is the music any good - or rather, do I enjoy it?
Previous Message
Thanks, Nick Barnard, for having the courage to prick the Florence Price bubble. I have listened to all three recorded symphonies several times over and, by and large, find them not merely conservative but dull. I’m a great lover of neglected romantics but really these works, the ‘jubas’ perhaps aside, hardly deserve the fuss, much less the praise bestowed on them. As for a Gramophone Recording of the Month, well, words fail me...
Thanks to Ralph for saying more precisely what I feel – that Florence Price’s current fame is due more to her gender and race than the intrinsic value of her music. I absolutely agree with Stuart Sillitoe about Hyperion, CPO and many other labels, and my shelves are packed with their discoveries, but my point is that there are huge quantities of music that may not ‘be as wonderful as a well-known masterpiece, but deserve to be known’ but which have not received the accolades bestowed upon Florence Price. Admittedly the quality of her work is a matter of opinion and I'm pleased to have heard her symphonies but I doubt I'll return to them very often...