Adoration

Florence Beatrice Price

Florence Beatrice Price (trans. Cheldon Williams)

General Info

Year: 1951 / 2022
Duration: c. 3:20
Difficulty: III+ (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Organ
Publisher: Murphy Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $120.00   |   Score Only (print) - $120.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:

• Bass Drum (concert)
• Crash Cymbals
• Glockenspiel
• Snare Drum (concert)
• Triangle

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Florence Price (1887-1953) was a prolific American composer whose race and gender made it difficult for her contributions to join the widely accepted musical canon in the decades following her life. A trailblazer, Price is considered the first Black woman recognized as a symphonic composer and was the first to have her music performed by a major American orchestra when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra gave the world premiere of her Symphony No. 1 in 1933.

Price's catalog of works boasts an impressive array of symphonies, concertos, chamber music, various symphonic works, choral works, piano music, and music for the organ. Adoration in its original form is one of Price's compositions for organ and fits within the genre of her semi-secular output. My goal in transcribing this piece is to grant performers exposure to Price's story and the gift of performing her music outside of its intended medium.

- Program Note by Cheldon Williams

Originally conceived as a work for solo organ, Adoration was one of the last works Price wrote, but hearkens back to Price’s early work as an organist accompanying silent films. As critic and author Alex Ross writes, despite an impressive output of over 300 works, “[Price] is mentioned more often than she is heard,” a fact which is only now beginning to be remedied.

- Program Note from University of Texas Wind Symphony concert program, 6 April 2022

Media

• Audio: Reference recording. MIDI realization

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• University of Miami (Fla.) Frost Symphonic Winds (Robert Carnachan, conductor) - 5 December 2023
• University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Wind Ensemble (Jeffrey Summers, conductor) — 27 April 2023
• University of Illinois (Champaign) Hindsley Symphonic Band (Kevin M. Geraldi, conductor) - 21 April 2023
• Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) Concert Band (Cory Near, conductor) - 28 March 2023
• Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro) Symphonic Band (Denny Hawkins, conductor) - 23 March 2023
• Maryland Band Directors Band (Rockville) (Adrian Holton, conductor) - 23 February 2023
• United States Coast Guard Band (New London, Conn.) (Adam Williamson, conductor) - 15 January 2023
• Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts (West Palm Beach, Fla.) Wind Ensemble (Robert Carnochan, conductor) - 21 December 2022 (2022 Midwest Clinic)
• University of North Carolina at Charlotte Wind Ensemble (Hunter Kopczynski, conductor) – 2 December 2022
• Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) Symphonic Band (Cory Near, conductor) - 9 November 2022
• Arkansas State University (Jonesboro) Wind Ensemble (Tim Oliver, conductor) - 20 October 2022
• University of Alabama at Birmingham Wind Symphony (Sean Murray, conductor) - 11 October 2022
• University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Ryan Kelly, conductor) – 6 April 2022
• West Virginia University (Morgantown) Symphonic Band (Cheldon Williams, conductor) - 1 March 2022 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

• Adoration (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Wasson) (1951/2020)

All Wind Works

• Adoration (tr. Williams) (1951/2022)
• Adoration (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Wasson) (1951/2020)
• Dances in the Canebrakes (orch. Still; arr. Brown) (1953/)
• Fantasie Négre No. 4 (tr. Taylor) (1932/2023)
• Juba Dance (arr. Bocook) ( 1932/2018/2022)
• Octet for Brasses and Piano (1930/1948-49/2021)
• The Old Boatman (arr. Perna) (1933/2022)
• Suite of Dances (arr. Hernandez) (1933/)
• Three Negro Dances (arr. Leidzén) (1933/1939)

Resources

• Cheldon Williams, personal correspondence, April 2022
• Perusal score