PROGRAM NOTES
FLORENCE PRICE AND SHOSTAKOVICH
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
BY KORI HILL
Benjamin Britten
Born November 22 , 1913 in Lowestoft , United Kingdom Died December 4 , 1976 in Aleburgh , United Kingdom
FOUR SEA INTERLUDES FROM PETER GRIMES [ 1945 ]
A circuitous path led Britten to his first fullscale , critically acclaimed , opera , Peter Grimes . In 1941 , he and his partner , tenor Peter Pears , were living in Escondido , California ; a change of scene after the not-so-positive reception of his Paul Bunyan operetta on the East Coast was a must . But Britten wasn ’ t done with opera yet , as an E . M . Forester essay on poet George Crabbe introduced him to a character from Crabbe ’ s Borough that he saw as a powerful cypher for the social , emotional , and political ills of the modern era : Peter Grimes — a fisherman too strange to warrant grace from his community when a set of tragic circumstances make all judging eyes even more focused on him .
Britten set material from the opera ’ s six interludes for the “ Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes ” and an orchestral passacaglia sometimes performed in conjunction . The first interlude , “ Dawn ,” is a crystalline slow burn . The flutter of strings and woodwinds and the lowing of brass evoke the growth of light and the hopeful possibilities of union ; this interlude follows the Prologue , after a duet between Grimes and schoolteacher Ellen Orford , the women he hopes to marry . “ Sunday Morning ” features material that opens Act II ; its angular austerity and formality are communicated with an energetic theme passed between woodwinds and pizzicato strings , contrasting with a more lyrical theme and the tolling of bells . “ Moonlight ” belies the events that preceded it ; Grimes ’ second apprentice has died under mysterious circumstances ; night moves slowly to the next day , and the prologue of Act III . Pointed interjections from woodwinds contrast with the creeping dread of strings and brass , whose repetitive motives convey movement that has no release , no direction for respite . Grimes is adrift ; in his community , in his mind , in a situation that suggests he is a danger . “ Storm ” pulls double duty : it takes the listener back to Act I and signals the opera ’ s tragic end . An ascending and descending figure heard in the strings and brass conjures the high winds and deadly waves that assail Grimes and his neighbors , who take shelter in a pub . But there are moments of subdued tension : a gorgeous lyrical theme , drawn from Grimes ’ statement prior to the storm : “ What harbor shelters peace , away from tidal waves , away from storms ?” It is this cry that he repeats in Act III , right before he scuttles his ship . For Grimes , there is no harbor that shelters peace ; not even the sea , the source of his livelihood , can provide the respite he seeks in life .
Instrumentation Two flutes including two piccolos , two oboes , two clarinets including E-flat clarinet , two bassoons , contrabassoon , four horns , three trumpets , three trombones , tuba , timpani , percussion , harp , and strings .
Florence B . Price
Born April 9 , 1887 in Little Rock , Arkansas Died June 3 , 1953 in Chicago , Illinois
PIANO CONCERTO IN ONE MOVEMENT [ 1934 ]
Unpublished does not mean unperformed ; and while Florence Price did not see her Concerto in One Movement published , she saw it performed . Completed in 1934 , Price premiered the work with the Chicago Musical College Orchestra ; ( likely ) conducted pianist Margaret Bonds in a performance part of the Chicago World ’ s Fair 1934 “ Sing a New Song ” pageant
series ; and performed the two-piano version with her ( Price as soloist , Bonds as accompanist ) just five days later on August 30 th at the NANM conference in Pittsburgh . Bonds would perform the work again with the Woman ’ s Symphony of Chicago in October , while Price performed with orchestra at The Juilliard Auditorium in New York City as part of the 1935 NANM conference .
It is unclear if the work was programmed following Price ’ s death in 1953 ; but a new generation of advocates in the last two decades have reintroduced this piece to audiences : in 2011 , the concerto was orchestrated from the two-piano version by Trevor Weston and recorded by Karen Walwyn and the New Black Repertory Orchestra . Eight years later , Price ’ s orchestral manuscript was recovered at auction and published by G . Schirmer . Walwyn and Michelle Cann have both recorded this version .
The Concerto in One Movement toes the line between textural austerity and virtuosic expressivity . Split into three sections , Price applies the traditional structure of the concerto ( fast-slow-fast ) with traditional procedures of African American music : call-and-response ; melody driving the harmonic and thematic direction ; and the interplay of diatonic and modal tonalities . Compared to the two-piano version , the first section is marked Andantino rather than Tempo moderato , opening with a call-andresponse between brass and woodwinds , hints of what will be the section ’ s main theme . The piano ’ s rhapsodic solo section interrupts ,
Maximilian Franz
26 OVERTURE / BSOmusic . org