April 16, 2022. Madison, Mississippi. Great Television.

PBS showed a wonderful program on Friday. The series of Great Performanes was a show about an American lady, Florence Price. She was a composer of classical music. And she was black, so along with her classical training, she included black gospet themes in her compositions. Of course, she was a woman and black so was not trated seriously. But in 1935 her symphony was played by the Chicago symphony. But then she was ignored until recently, when several musicians are promoting her work. She was born into a wealthy black family in Little Rock, Arkansas but she and her lowyer husband moved to Chicago, where they stayed. And she thrived musically. The program also showed the development of the blues and jazz, and several different individuals and groups were featured. And there was a discussion on gospet, which included a 90 year old lady singing old time black gospet songs. The singing and playing was wonderful, along with the piano and violin pieces written by Florence Price. The program was a delight. I would watch it again in a heart beat.