Dances in the Canebrakes
Florence Beatrice Price (orch. William Grant Still; trans. Darrell Brown)
General Info
Year: 1953 /
Duration: c. 9:30
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Piano
Publisher: Darrell Brown
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown
Movements
1. Nimble Feet – 2:30
2. Tropical Noon – 3:35
3. Silk Hat and Walking Cane – 3:10
Instrumentation
- Full Score
- C Piccolo
- Flute I-II
- Oboe I-II
- Bassoon I-II
- E-flat Soprano Clarinet
- B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
- B-flat Bass Clarinet
- E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet (optional)
- B-flat Contrabass Clarinet (optional)
- E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
- B-flat Tenor Saxophone
- E-flat Baritone Saxophone
- B-flat Bass Saxophone (optional)
- B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
- Horn in F I-II-III-IV
- Trombone I-II
- Bass Trombone
- Euphonium
- Tuba
- Contra-Bass
- Harp
- Timpani
- Percussion I-II, including:
- *Bells
- *Castanets
- *Claves
- *Snare Drum
- *Suspended Cymbal
- *Tom-tom
- *Triangle
- *Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
This short suite of dances, based on "authentic Negro rhythms" according to the composer, is one of Price's better-known works.
- Program Note from publisher
Florence Price composed Dances in the Canebrakes in its original piano version in 1953, the year of her death (from a stroke). Thus, part of the work’s significance is that it was one of her last compositions. Subsequently, a more successful Black composer, William Grant Still, orchestrated the three movements of the little suite. The connection between Price and Still is unclear.
The easily heard underlying rhythms of the three “dances” were derived from stage and ballroom dances from the time of Scott Joplin (c. 1900) and earlier. The first movement, titled Nimble Feet, is a “rag.” We hear this intertwined with fragments of a cheery melody.
A “slow drag,” the dominant rhythm of the second movement, supports a dreamy melody, which is passed around various sections of the orchestra. The central musical segment is more assertive, before consolidating both moods in a final segment of music.
The word “cane” in the last movement’s title, Silk Hat and Walking Cane, may be a play on words. The predominant rhythm here is the “cakewalk,” a ballroom dance of the late 19th century. Again in three sections, the music cleverly combines the feeling of theatrical dance with fashionable ballroom dancing.
- Program Note by Michael Fink for Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- ACB 2023 Convention Band (Orlando, Fla.) (Kaitlin Bove, conductor) – 20 May 2023 (ACB 2023 Annual Convention (Orlando, Fla.))
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
- Darrell Brown, personal correspondence, August 2023
- Fink, Michael. "The Story Behind: Price's Dances in the Canebrakes." Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School, 3 November 2021. Web Accessed 19 May 2023
- Florence Price website Accessed 25 January 2023