Dr. Michael Cooper shared with MusicUNTOLD the following: NUMBER ONE OF 2021: I awoke this morning to find that my edition of Florence B. Price’s Seven Descriptive Pieces for Piano Solo (1927-28) has been published by G. Schirmer & Associated Music Publishers.
That’s quicker than I expected, but hardly too quick considering that they’ve remained unpublished, unperformed, unheard, and absent from the literature for nearly a century. They’re pieces of some biographical significance also: the first six were composed in October, 1927, just before the Price family migrated to Chicago; and the last (“Pensive Mood”) was composed in March, 1928 — Price’s first securely dateable piano-solo piece after that difficult move that proved a watershed in her professional and personal life. They’re technically challenging and fascinating in many ways. It’s 20-22 minutes’ worth of fine music that is nowhere discussed or mentioned in any of the literature on Price — and that can now change.
