Adoration

Comprising four minutes of tender and beguiling lyricism, Florence Price’s Adoration was composed for organ in 1951, and later thrived in a series of posthumous arrangements. Price studied the organ at the New England Conservatory, and later—while breaking barriers as an African-American woman in racially segregated Chicago—she found work as an organist for silent films. Published in the Lorenz Corporation’s The Organ Portfolio (a popular periodical for organists), Adoration was likely intended for use as a prelude or offertory piece in a church service. But its arching melody, rich harmonies and processional tempo have allowed for an effortless transfer to chamber music. In recent times, the score has been published in arrangements for violin (or viola) and piano, for wind quintet and for string orchestra with soloist.