Rae Linda Brown’s Biography of Florence Price

courtesy of University of Illinois Press

I have now finished reading Rae Linda Brown’s biography of composer Florence Price, The Heart of a Woman: The Life and Music of Florence B. Price. As I observed when mentioned this book as part of an article about Price’s first and last symphonies, this book has been on sale at Amazon.com since June 22 in both hardcover and paperback editions. I also noted that Brown died before her manuscript was published and that Guthrie P. Ramsey Jr. supervised the final editing for publication by the University of Illinois Press.

The book concludes with an Afterword by the author’s sister, Carlene J. Brown, which explains the thoroughness of the author’s approach to preparing this book. Those that work their way through all nineteen of Brown’s chapters will probably appreciate her sister’s remarks. The book is as much a sociological study of the development of race relations in the United States during Price’s lifetime (April 9, 1887–June 3, 1953) as it is an account of her achievements in music as performer, composer, and teacher. The problem is that many readers may lose patience with the opening chapters that provide the reader with a rich context for practices of segregation, particularly in the state of Arkansas; and they will begin to lose hope that Brown shift attention to discussing the composer’s musical experiences.

The good news is that there is extensive discussion, complete with musical examples, particularly of the large-scale compositions. Nevertheless, by the time of her death in 2017, Brown knew little about the fourth symphony in D minor and the efforts to prepare it for concert performance in 2018 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Equally extensive is Brown’s account of Price’s interest in traditional spirituals and her efforts to create arrangements for concert performances. Nevertheless, given my experience with Price’s shorter solo piano compositions, music that has been championed by pianist Lara Downes, I was surprised that, given her thoroughness in so many other topics, Brown had little to say about this more intimate side of Price’s compositions.

Having completed my reading of the book, I felt that, for all of Brown’s biographical thoroughness, she never really homed in on the rich diversity of “musical spirits” that one can encounter in the Price catalog. As I have already observed, there is a growing library of recordings through which one can get to know Price’s music through its performance. Indeed, those that have been following the current offerings by the San Francisco International Piano Festival probably know that tonight’s live-streamed offering will include pianist Nicholas Phillips showcasing Price’s compositions, not only those aforementioned miniatures but also a full account of her own virtuosic piano sonata in E minor.