Lyrical, tender, charming, warm, majestic… These are a just a few words that apply equally to Florence Price’s String Quartet in G Major and Beethoven’s Opus 127 Quartet in E Flat Major. Though separated by a century, each groundbreaking genius overcame adversity to create these two works which express profound humanity and beauty. Beethoven struggled to compose his Op. 127 through illness and complete deafness; Price (perhaps the most notable African American women composers of the early 20th Century) composed her gorgeous G Major Quartet despite enduring systemic racial disadvantages. Through these works, both artists show us a roadmap to beauty, triumph, and our better selves.
Florence PRICE, String Quartet in G Major

BEETHOVEN String Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 127