Back to results

University of Kansas

Florence Price: The Hidden Pioneer of Imposed Simplicity

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Florence Price is commonly described as a late-Romantic composer. This dissertation seeks to reposition her as a modernist through the lens of imposed simplicity. Imposed simplicity is a term Aaron Copland used to describe many of his own works composed in the 1930s and 1940s. Using the framework created by Dr. Stanley Kleppinger and Lawrence Starr to describe Copland’s aesthetics, iconic works by Copland and Virgil Thomson are analyzed to quantify these aesthetics, which can then be applied to the analysis of Price's pieces. Price’s Sonata in E Minor for piano (1932) contains many of these qualities and precedes the earliest examples of both Copland and Thomson, making her a pioneer of this modernist style. Furthermore, this document also contributes a brief guide for arranging Price’s pieces for bassoon and wind quartet. This document was prepared in conjunction with a lecture recital.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
D.M.A.
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Music
Grantor dc:publisher
University of Kansas
Year dc:date.issued
2026

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Frith, David Lucas
Advisor dc:contributor.advisor
  • Samson, Midori

Rights

Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:kuscholarworks.ku.edu:1808/39552

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Kansas
Base URL
kuscholarworks.ku.edu/server/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
related terms
citation

Frith, David Lucas. Florence Price: The Hidden Pioneer of Imposed Simplicity. University of Kansas, 2026. https://hdl.handle.net/1808/39552