Florence Price - Violin Concertos & Other Orchestral Works (John Jeter)

Information

Composer: Florence Price

• Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major
• Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Major
• Piano Concerto in One Movement in D Minor (ed. N. Greer & C. Lark) in D Minor:
• Dances in the Canebrakes (arr. William Grant Still)

Fanny Clamagirand, violin

Han Chen, piano

Malmö Opera Orchestra

John Jeter, conductor

Date: 2025

Label: Naxos

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Florence Price (1887–1953) reached her musical maturity in Chicago during the 1930s – the decade in which she made a famous debut with the city’s orchestra and produced two substantial concertos. The Piano Concerto in One Movement contains some of her most beautiful music set alongside moments of Romantic bravura. Violin Concerto No. 1 seems never to have been performed during her lifetime but is the most expansive of her concertos and is richly orchestrated. The later Violin Concerto No. 2 is a much more compact work, cast in one expressive movement. Dances in the Canebrakes, originally for piano, evokes 19th-century African American life, heard here in William Grant Still’s orchestration.

Under the leadership of John Jeter, the Fort Smith Symphony has grown into an internationally recognized ensemble. Jeter is acclaimed for his pioneering recordings of neglected American composers, particularly Florence Price, whose orchestral works he has recorded in their entirety, many as world premieres. His landmark recording of Price’s Symphonies Nos. 1 and 4 helped spark global interest in her music. Jeter also led first complete recordings of William Grant Still’s symphonies and works by Native American composer Louis Ballard. He has guest conducted widely and recorded with top orchestras in Europe. Also active in media and wellness, he combines music with public outreach and education.