Florence Beatrice Price
An April Day
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Florence Beatrice Price
An April Day
- Instrumentation Mixed Choir (SMezATB) and Piccolo
- Composer Florence Beatrice Price
- Editor Jan-Benjamin Homolka
- Lyricist Joseph Seamon Cotter
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Difficulty Level
- Edition Score
- Publisher Carus-Verlag
- Order no. CV09351-00
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- from 60 pcs 2,00 €
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Description:
With contemplative simplicity, Joseph S. Cotter’s short poem "An April Day" celebrates the delights of nature on a spring day in April. The universal human experience of the joy of being—completely independent of skin color and gender—takes center stage. These two aspects fundamentally shaped the lives of both the poet and the composer Florence B. Price in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. Both were of African American descent, and this background both inspired and, at the same time, repeatedly hindered their artistic work. In addition to symphonic works, chamber music, and piano pieces, the art song occupies a significant place in Price’s oeuvre, with approximately 130 surviving piano songs. With the song "An April Day," which spans just 26 measures, the composer created a compositional gem. In a vivid and deeply emotional musical manner, she captures the simple joy of the poem in sound. Jan-Benjamin Homolka has carefully arranged the original version for solo voice and piano for a five-part chamber choir. The arrangement retains the original piano accompaniment and the melody—conceived by Price for solo voice—in the soprano part. The piano uses arpeggios to create expansive chordal textures. The song showcases Price’s characteristic style, which is firmly rooted in the tradition of European Romanticism while simultaneously incorporating elements of African American music in a completely natural way.