Ravinia 2023 Issue 5

FLORENCE B. PRICE (1887–1953) Summer Moon In the wake of racial hostilities in Little Rock, AR, many members of the Black com- munity joined the Great Migration to north- ern cities. Thomas and Florence Price fol- lowed the path to Chicago, relocating permanently in 1928 with their two daugh- ters, Florence Louise and Edith Cassandra. Chicago offered familiar surroundings to Florence, who had spent the summers of 1926 and 1927 furthering her music educa- tion at the Chicago Musical College Summer Master School, with a primary emphasis on composition. After settling in the city, she received a scholarship in 1929 to study or- chestration at the American Conservatory of Music and pursued courses in liberal arts and languages at Chicago Teachers College and the University of Chicago. Price developed into a prolific composer of piano teaching pieces for children, which lo- cal and national music firms published, and she amassed a substantial catalog of popular songs and spiritual arrangements. A highly accomplished keyboard player, she quickly earned respect as one of the most accom- plished silent-film organists on “The Stroll,” an entertainment zone populated by night- clubs, cabarets, dance halls, theaters, and cafés on State Street between 26th to 39th Streets. Her husband, by contrast, struggled to establish himself in Chicago as a lawyer, enduring frequent periods of unemploy- ment. An angry streak escalated into verbal and physical abuse. Florence filed for divorce, which the judge granted on January 19, 1931. One month later, she married the recently widowed Pusey Dell (P.D.) Arnett, a former professional baseball player for the Chicago Unions—an independent Black team that pre-dated the establishment of the Negro Leagues—and successful insurance agent. Though Arnett provided financial security, he and Florence separated three years later, though they never divorced. Florence Price Price’s personal turmoil coincided with an extraordinary creative outpouring, includ- ing initial sketches for a symphony. Further incentive to complete this orchestral score emerged one year later when the Fifth Annu- al Rodman Wanamaker Contest in Musical Composition for Composers of the Negro Race was announced. At stake were $1,000 in cash prizes. Price entered her Symphony No. 1 in E minor and Ethiopia’s Shadow in Amer- ica in the orchestral category and the Sonata in E minor and Fantasie nègre No. 4 in B mi- nor in the piano category. Incredibly, her four entries received top honors and shared Hon- orable Mention in both orchestral and piano categories, earning cash awards totaling $750. Her former student Margaret Bonds—at the time a student at Northwestern University— won the song category (and a $250 award) with “Sea Ghost.” Frederick Stock, music director of the Chica- go Symphony Orchestra, took note of her tri- umphs. The opening of the Chicago World’s Fair was just eight months away, and the CSO was scheduled to perform at the Auditorium Theatre within the first few weeks of June 1933. Stock programmed two back-to-back performances of orchestral music written almost exclusively by American compos- ers. The world premiere of Florence Price’s Symphony No. 1 in E minor occupied center position on the second program, on June 15. The performance proved a landmark event in music history: never before had a major American symphony orchestra performed a composition by a Black woman. Price continued to compose voraciously, writing new music characterized by eclectic styles and purpose. She dedicated Summer Moon to her 17-year-old Chicago piano stu- dent Memry Midgett (1920–2013), who went on to distinguished careers as jazz pianist, singer, and public official. After graduating from Englewood High School, Midgett at- tended the American Conservatory of Music and taught music at St. Elizabeth High School, a coeducational Black school on the South Side. Memry Midgett Her career as a jazz pianist and vocalist hit high gear in the 1950s, appearing with band- leaders such as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. Midgett received a big break when Billie Holiday signed her to an 18-month tour contract (1954–55) and Carnegie Hall performance. An automobile accident in December 1965 ended her per- forming career, so Midgett turned to public service, teaching at high schools in Oakland and San Francisco and serving as chief ad- ministrator of the Department of Public Health in San Francisco. MRS. H.H.A. BEACH (1867–1944) “Sous les étoiles” (Under the Stars) from Les Rêves de Columbine, Suite française , op. 65 Amy Marcy Cheney grew up in an old New England family. The Cheneys moved from Henniker, NH, to Boston while Amy was still a child. Her parents discovered early and fostered her extraordinary musical talent. Family lore traces the amazing unfolding of Amy’s abilities. According to Mrs. Cheney, her daughter could improvise “a perfectly correct alto to any soprano air I might sing” before the age of 2. At 4, two years before her first piano lesson, Amy could play four-part hymn harmonizations after one hearing, even in the correct key. Amy associated keys with specific colors, and she could transcribe bird calls exactly. After studying piano with her mother for a few years, Amy Cheney continued to develop under the tutelage of two Boston musicians: Ernst Perabo and Carl Baermann. Junius W. Hill, professor of music at Wellesley Col- lege, provided training in music theory and encouraged his 14-year-old student to study harmony, counterpoint, fugue, and instru- mentation treatises, advice she eagerly ac- cepted. Unlike most other musicians of the so-called “Second New England School” at the end of the 19th century—John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, and George Whitefield Chadwick, among others—Amy Cheney nev- er attended university, nor did she finish her training at a European conservatory. She took great pride in her American musical educa- tion and her self-training in composition. An accomplished and active concert pianist throughout her life, Cheney made her profes- sional recital debut on January 9, 1884, at Bos- ton’s Chickering Hall. During the next two years, she gave dozens of recitals and ap- peared as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Theodore Thomas Orches- tra. Amy Marcy Cheney married Boston phy- sician Dr. Henry Harris Aubrey Beach in 1885. Thereafter, she insisted on being called Mrs. H.H.A. Beach in all professional mat- ters. Mrs. Beach devoted more time to com- position after her marriage, producing more than 150 works in her lifetime. The 1890s brought several auspicious firsts. Her Mass in E-flat, op. 5, was performed by the Boston Handel and Haydn Society in February 1892, the first composition by a woman presented by this venerable organization. Four years lat- er, the Boston Symphony Orchestra gave the premiere of her Gaelic Symphony , the first symphony by an American woman. Many people have misunderstood the effect of marriage on Mrs. Beach’s musical career. Rather than discouraging her professional activities, Dr. Beach encouraged his wife’s in- terests. Mrs. Beach explained many years af- ter her husband’s death on June 28, 1910: “Dr. Beach was ‘old-fashioned’ and believed that the husband should support his wife. But he did not want me to drop my music, in fact, urged me to keep on, with the stipulation that any fees I received should go to charity. … I was happy and Dr. Beach was content.” The doctor provided a lavish home in Boston with a music room and large music library and a summer home on Cape Cod. Beach composed Les Rêves de Columbine, Suite française , op. 65, in late 1906 and early 1907. Its five movements recall dance types from a Baroque suite, but the allusions to commedia dell’arte characters (Columbine, Pierrot, and Harlequin), evocations of foun- tains and dreams, wide-ranging keyboard textures, and adventurous harmonies refer- ence more modern French keyboard writing. Beach premiered the suite on April 17, 1907, at a recital devoted to her songs and solo-pi- ano music at the Hotel Tuileries in Boston. Continuing the Gallic theme, Boston music publisher Arthur P. Schmidt issued the col- lection in 1907 with a title page entirely in the French language and dotted with red-orange fleurs-de-lis . CLARICE ASSAD ( b.1978) A World of Change Brazilian-American composer, pianist, and vocalist Clarice Assad embraces an expan- sive world of sound and style influences in musical creations ranging from folksong Mrs. H.H.A. (Amy) Beach RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 33