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Episode details

Radio 3,15 May 2026,86 mins

Florence Price (1887-1953)

Composer of the Week Podcast

Available for over a year

Kate Molleson explores the life and music of Florence Price, joined by pianist and scholar Samantha Ege. From her childhood in Little Rock, where family, education and the realities of racial segregation shaped her early ambitions, Price鈥檚 story unfolds through persistence, reinvention and growing recognition. Moving through her years of study and early career, we hear how she drew on African American musical traditions while navigating the social and political pressures around her. In Chicago, she found a vibrant artistic community and new opportunities, leading to orchestral success and national visibility. In her later years, recognition remained uneven, and her music continued to evolve in the face of resistance and neglect, with works still coming to light long after her death. Music featured includes: Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint: No. 4 Shortnin鈥 Bread Violin Concerto No. 2 Symphony No. 4 in D minor (extract) Scenes in Tin Can Alley: Children at Play Fantasie N猫gre No. 1 in E minor Fantasie N猫gre No. 2 in G minor String Quartet No. 2 in A minor 鈥 Finale Concert Overture No. 2 Adoration Fantasie No. 2 in F sharp minor A Day in the Life of a Washerwoman Fantasie No. 1 in G minor The Goblin and the Mosquito Songs to the Dark Virgin Ethiopia鈥檚 Shadow in America (extracts) Symphony No. 1 in E minor (extract) Symphony No. 1 in E minor 鈥 Juba Dance Piano Concerto in One Movement (extract) Sympathy My Soul鈥檚 Been Anchored in the Lord The Oak Resignation Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major 鈥 Allegro The Mississippi River (extracts) Fantasie N猫gre No. 3 in F minor Presented by Kate Molleson Produced by Ellie Ajao for 麻豆社 Audio Wales and West For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Florence Price (1887-1953) /programmes/m002vw41. And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we鈥檝e featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z

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