Catalyst “Uncovers” its Second Composer

courtesy of Crossover Media

At the beginning of next month, Azica Records will release the second volume in the UNCOVERED series of albums recorded by the Catalyst Quartet. That release will take place about a year after the appearance of the first volume, which was devoted entirely to the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. The second volume will also focus on a single composer, Florence Price.

The duration of the new release is about twice that of the first and will present all of Price’s currently known chamber music compositions. Those works include a piano quintet in A minor, a string quartet, also in A minor, two sets of contrapuntal realizations of folk songs, and two (probably) unfinished works: a string quartet in G major and a piano quintet. Once again, this album will only be available for MP3 download; and the Amazon.com Web page created for pre-orders does not include any accompanying booklet of program notes.

Those in the Bay Area probably know by now that there is also an Uncovered concert series taking place this season presented by San Francisco Performances (SFP). The Catalyst performers are violinists Karla Donehew and Abi Fayette, violist Paul Laraia, and cellist Karlos Rodriguez. Second violin on the Coleridge-Taylor album was Jessie Montgomery, but the new album has Fayette occupying that chair. That album also includes pianist Michelle Cann.

Next month’s recital, the third installment in the recital series, will include Price’s A minor quartet. That quartet is one of the two selections on the new album that is not being given a world premiere recording. The other is the set of five Folksongs in Counterpoint, which has enjoyed several opportunities for streamed listening during pandemic times. It was also included in the second recital in the SFP Uncovered series.

For Bay Area listeners, those contrapuntal settings probably constituted “first contact” with Price’s chamber music. However, those listeners have also had a generous share of opportunities to experience some of the composer’s other genres. She is one of several Black composers whose music has been championed by pianist Lara Downes, and John Jeter has recorded two albums of her symphonies for Naxos American Classics. Furthermore, the first of those symphonies was performed here in San Francisco by the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony in March of 2019.

However, the chamber music reveals itself as a distinctive genre unto itself. This is most evident in Price’s richly imaginative approaches to counterpoint. On the other hand the chamber music offerings share with the symphonies a preference for replacing the European scherzo with a “Juba” movement. However, like the scherzo, this is a genre that can fit comfortably into any instrumental setting. Price’s consistent use of it almost seems to reflect the application of a hallmark by a goldsmith or silversmith.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the discovery of all of those Price manuscripts that turned up in 2009 in an abandoned dilapidated house, describing this new album as a complete account of Price’s chamber music may be jumping the gun. Nevertheless, there is more than enough on this new release to satisfy the attentive listener, even if some of those offerings may be little more than fragments. The good news is that Price’s music is enjoying a generous number of musicians advocating its performance. I, for one, am glad that those musicians include Catalyst and the latest album they recorded.