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Catalyst Quartet

Uncovered Vol. 2 - Florence B. Price

Azica Records
Release Date: February 4, 2022

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WNYC & WQXR Greene Space performance
Interview w/ Winnipeg's Classic107
Karla Donehew Perez of the Catalyst Quartet discusses Uncovered, Vol. 2 on WOSU
We are the Catalyst Quartet
1 Quintet in A minor for Piano and Strings / Allegro non troppo  
2 Andante con moto  
3 Juba  
4 Scherzo  
5 Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet / Go down Moses  
6 Somebody’s knockin’ at yo do’  
7 Little David play on yo harp  
8 Joshua fit de battle ob Jericho  
9 String Quartet in A minor / Moderato  
10 Andante cantabile  
11 Juba  
12 Finale  
13 Five Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet / Calvary  
14 Oh my darlin’ Clementine  
15 Drink to me only with thine eyes  
16 Shortnin’ bread  
17 Swing low, sweet chariot  
18 String Quartet in G Major (unfinished) / Allegro  
19 Andante moderato  
20 Quintet for Piano and Strings (possibly unfinished) / Allegro moderato  
21 Andante  
22 Allegretto  
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“You and I could go to chamber concerts for years and never hear a program as full of surprises and discovery as this one. And we’ve been missing out.” – San Francisco Chronicle  

On Friday, February 4, 2022, GRAMMY Award-winning Catalyst Quartet releases UNCOVERED Volume 2: Florence B. Price on Azica Records. The digital album is the second issue of a multi-volume anthology highlighting string quartet works by historically important Black composers which aims to bring greater awareness and programming of their music. Volume 2 is entirely devoted to the six known string quartet and piano quintet works of composer Florence B. Price – including four world premiere recordings – performed with pianist Michelle Cann, recipient of the 2021 Price Award.  The album consists of four string quartets, three of which have never been recorded, and two piano quintets, one of which has never been recorded, including Price’s Quintet in A minor for Piano and Strings; Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet; String Quartet in A minor; Five Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet; and her unfinished String Quartet in G Major and Quintet for Piano and Strings.

In the words of the Catalyst Quartet, “Price faced extreme obstacles in her lifetime, however her compositional output is vast despite the many barriers placed in her path. The six works in UNCOVERED Vol. 2 highlight her most productive years and unique cultural identity. Her experience as a Black woman displaced because of the deep racism of the Jim Crow south; a wife and mother fleeing from an abusive husband; a prodigious organ student at the New England Conservatory; and as an important contributor to the great Chicago Renaissance between 1935 and 1950, where she associated with icons such as Langston Hughes, Marion Anderson, and Margaret Bonds; shaping her body of work while contributing authentically to American music in its depth and beauty. The works on this album are a powerful reminder that America’s romantic classical vernacular, as prophesied by Dvorak, owes an incredible amount to the voices history has overlooked and suppressed.”

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