Loading...
A Corpus Study of the Sonata-Form Works of Florence Beatrice Price
Hartsough, Adrian Austin
Hartsough, Adrian Austin
An error occurred retrieving the object's statistics
Citations
Altmetric:
Abstract
This dissertation marks the first comprehensive study of all 12 sonata-form works of composer Florence Price (1888–1953). Price became the first African American woman to have a significant work performed by a major symphony in the United States when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed her Symphony No. 1 in E Minor in 1933. After Price moved to Chicago in 1927 from Little Rock, Arkansas, she devoted much of her time to becoming a serious composer. All of her large-form works were composed during this time, but sadly, many did not receive performances during her lifetime. Other than her art songs, which continued to be performed after her death in 1953, most of her compositions were forgotten. In fact, many of her works were lost until a discovery of several of her manuscripts in 2009. This treasure trove, paired with the work of restorative justice in making space for previously marginalized composers has afforded a renewed interest in Price as a composer.
There is a lacuna of scholarship on Florence Price, particularly in the sonata-form works, which have been receiving their first performances in the past five to ten years. To this end, no single research project has considered Price’s full catalog of works in sonata form, of which there are 12: five symphonic movements, two symphonic tone poems, a concert overture, and the opening movements to the following: two keyboard sonatas, a string quartet, and a piano quintet.
James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy’s Sonata Theory will be used to analyze Price’s works, with special consideration given to her employment of nonresolving recapitulations, and her affinity for creating thematic material which explores a double-tonic complex. Because Price’s 12 sonata-form works are all in minor keys, her body of work provides a unique case study to explore Hepokoski and Darcy’s ideas on the minor mode sonata. Additionally, Sonata Theory allows for rich, hermeneutic interpretations which are informed by Price’s biography and Susan McClary’s and Marcia Citron’s work in feminist analysis.
Description
Date
2024-01-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Kansas
Collections
Archive Status
This item contains archived web content.
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Music theory, double-tonic complex, feminist analysis, Florence Price, nonresolving recapitulation, Sonata Theory, untransposed S