"A Streetcar named Desire" w/ Cottbus Ballet - Florence Price
For the creation of my ballet “A Streetcar Named Desire” with the Cottbus Ballet, one aspect of the original play that is not explicitly addressed is the theme of “Blackness” or the elements associated with black culture. I thought it was important to underline its importance as the story happens in one of the most influential cultural environments, “New Orleans” - a city deeply rooted in black culture, particularly in jazz music.
This concept was first initiated by the Nardal sisters Paulette and Jeanne, and later developed further by Aimé Césaire and Léopold Sédar Senghor, who coined the term “négritude”.
To do so, I focused my musical choices on Afro-American composers and singers and discovered some truly amazing compositions.
I will share their stories with you and shed light on their work, which, unfortunately for most of them, remains in the shadows.
First on the list is Florence Price
“Florence Beatrice Price (born Smith; April 9, 1887 – June 3, 1953) was an American classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music, and was active in Chicago from 1927 until her death in 1953. Price is noted as the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra. Price composed over 300 works: four symphonies, four concertos, as well as choral works, art songs, chamber music and music for solo instruments. In 2009, a substantial collection of her works and papers was found in her abandoned summer home.” (Source Wikipedia)
Here are the works I selected for my ballet
“Adoration”
“String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, III. Juba”
The third movement, “Juba”, starts at 19’52’’ in this video
I invite you to take a closer look at her work. She has some beautiful and powerful compositions.
For example, here on Spotify and you can find more about her on this website dedicated to her and the website of the International Florence Price Festival.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope you enjoyed it. In the next post, I will tell you about another artist who is part of the musical landscape of my creation.
- Martin
