How Florence Beatrice Price's Music Triumphed Over Prejudice
September 15, 2024
A tribute to the perseverance of an underrecognized Black composer. Growing up in Little Rock, Arkansas, Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953) had high musical aspirations, which were initially stymied "because Black girls did not give recitals in public buildings." Bea (born Florence Beatrice Smith) attended a segregated public school. She played piano at her home and absorbed the rhythms of the spirituals, folk, juba, and classical music that surrounded her. She created her own compositions from an early age. In 1903, Bea was accepted to the New England Conservatory of Music--one of only two Black students among 2,000. Afterward, she taught lessons and continued to compose but couldn't get her work published. She and her husband, Thomas Jewell Price, moved to Chicago, where she found some success while also scraping together a living to support their two daughters. Her version of the spiritual "My Soul's Been Anchored in de Lord," famously sung by contralto Marion Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, finally, if briefly, brought her the recognition she deserved. DeLems' narrative reads more like a resume than a story, succumbing to cliches and a profusion of unwarranted sentence fragments. Nevertheless, Bea Price's contributions to the musical world surely merit a biography, and this one makes a strong case for her impressive body of music. Relying on a pastel palette and precise period details, Engel's delicate illustrations bring both warmth and energy to the narrative. A much-needed account, though not without its shortcomings. (author's and illustrator's notes, music glossary, timeline, archival photographs, list of artists active during Bea's era, selected bibliography, picture credits)(Picture-book biography. 7-10)
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September 23, 2024
Florence Beatrice Price (1887–1953) grew up in Little Rock, Ark., listening to “Juba dance and jammin’ banjo rhythms.” Leaving the segregated South to pursue opportunity, she attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, one of only two Black students at the time. There, she “crammed in music theory and harmony... Dug deep into her roots... And spun a classical music style all her own.” Across experiences of prejudice and violence, and the Great Depression, Bea continued writing and teaching music—eventually connecting with legendary contralto Marian Anderson, who brought Bea’s work to the limelight. Through snappy sentences and sonorous diction, DeLems imbues this text with musicality, while Engel’s acrylic and oil paintings emphasize movement and light in a biography that zooms in on the figure’s career triumphs. Creator notes and more conclude. Ages 7–10.
September 20, 2024
Gr 2-4-A picture book biography introduces young readers to Florence Beatrice Price (1887-1953), the first Black American classical composer, organist, and pianist. It traces Price's journey from her early life in segregated Little Rock, AK, to her career as a groundbreaking musician. From a young age, Price had a passion for music, learning piano from her mother and playing in her family's living room. Despite racial barriers, she excelled in school and became valedictorian of her public school. She attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she was one of two Black students out of 2,000, and graduated with honors, earning degrees in both organ and piano. After returning to Arkansas, she taught at several Black colleges, married, and started a family. However, racism limited opportunities to have her music performed or published. One of the highlights of her career was having opera singer Marian Anderson perform her compositions, which brought more recognition to her work. Unfortunately, her music was not widely performed by major symphonies until after her death, when many of her compositions were rediscovered. The book celebrates Price's awe-inspiring determination and talent, offering a compelling look at a woman who broke barriers in classical music. VERDICT This is an engaging introduction to an important, often overlooked figure in Black history and a great choice for children's music education or Women's or Black History Month.-Annmarie Braithwaite
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
October 15, 2024
Grades 1-4 Though a prolific composer and musician and the first (as a period review, quoted here, puts it) "Race woman" to have a symphonic work performed by a major orchestra, Florence Beatrice Price fell into obscurity until 2009, when her music was literally rediscovered in an abandoned house. In her lifetime, Price earned a devoted following while overcoming barriers of race and gender to earn two degrees at once from the New England Conservatory of Music, courageously returning to her native Arkansas to teach and start a family, and "integrating" multiple all-white professional organizations. Her music, DeLems writes, was influenced by folk songs, spirituals, and the "foot-stomping and clapping sounds of Pattin' Juba." Engel evokes it in her stately illustrations by giving Price an inward listening gaze and surrounding her and contemporaries with clouds of musical notes and abstract pastel swirls. Along with photos and a time line, the back matter includes a select biographical roster of those contemporaries, from Anderson on. Readers enticed by this remembrance to seek out her music won't be disappointed.
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