Price - Fantasy No. 1 in G minor (Transcribed for Cello and Piano)

Florence Price was one of the most important American composers of the twentieth century and the first Black woman composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra. Her Fantasy No. 1 for violin and piano was composed in July 1933. Lasting about five minutes, the work opens with an expressive cadenza before moving into a three-part main section. Compact but richly colored, the Fantasy reflects Price’s distinctive blend of lyrical warmth, formal clarity, and idiomatic writing, drawing on both African American musical language and Romani-inflected gestures.

This transcription brings Price’s original violin line to the cello while preserving the expressive character and shape of the work. The opening cadenza gives the cellist room for freedom and rhetorical pacing, while the main body of the piece offers contrasts of mood, rhythm, and color within a concise concert form.

Well-suited for recitals, lessons, studio classes, and short concert selections, Fantasy No. 1 gives cellists an opportunity to develop expressive phrasing, flexible rhythm, cadenza-like freedom, stylistic character, and a warm, singing tone in a compelling work by one of America’s significant twentieth-century composers.

ASTA level: 3.5–4