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“Song to the Dark Virgin”: Race and Gender in Five Art Songs of Florence B

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“Song to the Dark Virgin”: Race and Gender in Five Art Songs of Florence B UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: 03 August 2007________ I, __Bethany Jo Smith_______________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Master of Music in: CCM Division of Composition, Musicology and Theory (Music History) It is entitled: “Song to the Dark Virgin”: Race and Gender in Five Art Songs of Florence B. Price This work and its defense approved by: Chair: __Melinda Boyd__________________ __bruce d. mcclung_______________ __Mary Stucky___________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ “SONG TO THE DARK VIRGIN”: RACE AND GENDER IN FIVE ART SONGS OF FLORENCE B. PRICE A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF MUSIC in the Division of Composition, Musicology, and Theory of the College-Conservatory of Music 2007 by Bethany Jo Smith B.A., Manhattanville College, 2000 Committee Chair: Dr. Melinda Boyd ABSTRACT The art songs of Florence B. Price (1888–1953) reveal a tumultuous history of the threat of being black and a woman during the Negro Renaissance in Chicago. Price was one of the first black women to be recognized as a composer; however, many of her art songs remain unpublished. This thesis expands the existing scholarship on Price and her vocal repertoire, situating her works firmly within the context of the Negro Renaissance. I analyze five of her songs, “Fantasy in Purple,” “Forever,” “Night,” “The Heart of a Woman,” and “Song to the Dark Virgin,” through an aesthetic lens of race and gender studies. My interdisciplinary analysis draws upon African American aesthetics, critical studies of Negro Renaissance poetry, feminist theory, race theory, and musical analysis. Exploring these topics within Price’s art songs provides an explicit picture of her culture and the issues she faced as a black American woman during the Negro Renaissance. iii PERMISSIONS Chapter Five contains the text of the poems “Fantasy in Purple” (Langston Hughes), “Forever” (Paul Laurence Dunbar), “Night” (Louise C. Wallace), “The Heart of a Woman (Georgia Douglas Johnson), and “Songs to a Dark Virgin” (Langston Hughes). “Fantasy in Purple” and “Songs to the Dark Virgin” by Langston Hughes. Copyright © by the Estate of Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a Division of Random House Incorporated. “Night” by Louise C. Wallace is to the best of my knowledge unpublished. “Forever” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar and “The Heart of a Woman” by Georgia Douglas Johnson are in public domain. Appendices I-V contain the manuscripts of Florence B. Price’s art songs, “Fantasy in Purple,” “Forever,” Night,” “The Heart of a Woman,” and “Song to a Dark Virgin.” “Fantasy in Purple” and “Forever” are reprinted by permission of The Florence B. Price Smith Special Papers Collections in the University of Arkansas Library Special Collections. “Night,” Copyright © 1946 by ASCAP. Reprinted by permission of The Florence B. Price Smith Special Papers Collections in the University of Arkansas Library Special Collections. “The Heart of a Woman” is reprinted by permission of the Marian Anderson Collection of Music Manuscripts in the Annenburg Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the Van-Pelt Dietrich Library Center of the University of Pennsylvania. “Song to a Dark Virgin,” Copyright © 1941 by ASCAP. Reprinted by permission of The Florence B. Price Smith Special Papers Collections in the University of Arkansas Library Special Collections iv Copyright © 2007, Bethany Jo Smith v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to the Special Collections at the University of Arkansas Libraries and the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenburg Rare Book and Manuscript Library of the Van-Pelt Dietrich Library Center for granting me access to the manuscripts and facsimiles of Florence B. Price’s music for use in my research and in the reproduction of the five manuscripts and facsimiles that appear in this thesis. I wish to thank my committee members, Dr. bruce d. mcclung and Professor Mary Stucky, for their insight and interest in my research. I extend heartfelt gratitude to my thesis advisor, Dr. Melinda Boyd, for her enthusiasm and open- mindedness in advising this project. I also offer thanks to Dr. Hilary Poriss, who advised this thesis in its earliest stages. I would like to thank my voice teacher, Professor Karen Lykes, for her assistance in the preparation of these art songs. I offer a special thanks to Dr. Karin Pendle who sparked my interest in feminist musicology and has been an invaluable resource in my studies and research. My brother Justin, thank you for your help with proofreading. Most of all, I would like to thank my parents, William and Rebecca Smith, for their continued support of my education. This thesis is dedicated to the loving memory of my grandfather, Harry James Brown, Jr., whose spirit consistently guided me on this journey. I hope his compassion and respect for all humans, regardless of color or gender, imbued itself in my writing and will inspire others to investigate the wealth of artistic contributions that are too often ignored. vi “SONG TO THE DARK VIRGIN:” RACE AND GENDER IN FIVE ART SONGS OF FLORENCE B. PRICE TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements vi Preface “Would that I were a jewel; a shattered jewel . .” 2 Chapter 1. African American Vocal Music 7 2. The Negro Renaissance 25 3. The Art Song During the Negro Renaissance 40 4. Florence B. Price (1888–1953) 49 5. Songs to a Dark Virgin: An Analysis of Five of Price’s Art Songs 62 Epilogue “Would that I were a flame . .” 97 Appendices: Appendix I: “Fantasy in Purple” 99 Appendix II: “Forever” 102 Appendix III: “Night” 106 Appendix IV: “The Heart of a Woman” 108 Appendix V: “Song to the Dark Virgin” 111 Bibliography 115 PREFACE “Would that I were a jewel; a shattered jewel . .”1 The art songs of Florence B. Price (1888–1953) reveal the tumultuous history of being black and a woman during the Negro Renaissance in Chicago. Price received her education at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and later established a career in Chicago as an organist and teacher. She was one of the first black women to be recognized as a professional composer. She composed over three hundred pieces, including her most famous work, the Symphony in E Minor (1933). Well-known as a pianist and organist, Price composed numerous keyboard works as well as other instrumental and vocal genres. Between 1934 and 1936 she composed sixty-seven art songs, many of which remain unpublished. Price employed the poetry of a variety of Negro Renaissance writers as the textual basis for her art songs. Because of this choice in texts, political leaders viewed her as a “race hero,” while newspapers presented her as a figure of racial “uplift.” Musical aesthetics surrounding the concert music of the Negro Renaissance focused on the composition of long, multi-sectional forms in the style of late nineteenth-century symphonies incorporating long melodies, sonata form, and chromatic harmonies. The inclusion of black musical idioms expanded these romantic compositional traditions. Much of Price’s oeuvre, including her collection of art songs, belongs to this aesthetic approach. Similar in style to the lieder of Robert Schumann, Price’s art songs embody compact structures while including extensive chromaticism and the use of text painting to closely illustrate subtle messages tucked within the poetry. My research expands the existing scholarship on Price and her vocal repertoire, presenting her not as just another woman composer 1 Langston Hughes, “Song to the Dark Virgin,” in The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes, ed. Arnold Rampersand and David Roessel (New York: Knopf, 1994), 61. 2 of art songs, but as a composer who used the medium of song to convey powerful social commentaries. This thesis presents a thorough investigation of the concert repertory of the Negro Renaissance, focusing in particular on Price’s oeuvre. I explore five of Price’s songs including “Fantasy in Purple,” “Forever,” “Night,” “The Heart of a Woman,” and “Song to the Dark Virgin” through the lens of race and gender studies. My interdisciplinary analysis draws upon African American aesthetics, critical studies of Negro Renaissance poetry, feminist theory, and race theory. I apply musical analyses aimed at exploring Price’s musical elements that conform to the ideals of the Negro Renaissance. Price’s songs use musical and poetic elements characteristic of black music discussed in Samuel A. Floyd’s research, such as syncopated rhythmic figures, repetition of short rhythmic patterns, antiphonal effects, moments of modally ambiguous harmony, and the use of melismas and vocables to create a fusion of African and American sounds.2 These analyses extend far beyond musical language and tonality as I consider the primacy of poetics as reflections of race and gender. I evaluate critical readings of the poetry, particularly focusing on issues pertinent to the setting of the art song, including hermeneutic interpretation and the use of literary devices that were popular during the period. Drawing upon feminist theory and its application to music, I emphasize the significance of black feminist thought. These theories support a thorough examination of the role of black women in society, in song, and through possible musical applications of these roles. Specific areas include 2 Samuel A. Floyd, The Power of Black Music: Interpreting Its History from Africa to the United States
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