The Fifth Day of Christmas

For the fifth day of Christmas, we share a gorgeous paean to the Virgin by Florence B. Price, performed by contralto Sondra Hellstrom and pianist Eric Tuan.

Born to a mixed-race family in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price became the first African-American woman to have her work performed by a major symphony orchestra. A child prodigy, Price had her first composition published at the age of eleven before traveling east to study piano, organ, composition, and counterpoint at the New England Conservatory. After teaching in both Georgia and Arkansas, Price moved to Chicago, spurred to leave Arkansas by oppressive racial discrimination and the lynching of a black man in Little Rock. It was in Chicago that she rose to national prominence with her Symphony in E minor, which won first prize in the Wanamaker Foundation Awards and was premiered by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In Song to the Dark Virgin, Price draws on the poetry of author and activist Langston Hughes, best known for his central role in the Harlem Renaissance. A lyrical vocal line soars above a gently rippling piano accompaniment, gradually building to a paean of impassioned devotion.