May 18, 2026 • 7 mins
In 1933, while America was deep in segregation, Florence Price became the first Black woman to have music performed by a major American orchestra -- and most people have never heard her name. In this episode of I Didn't Know Maybe You Didn't Either, our host, B Daht, explores how her groundbreaking symphony stood beside other major Black achievements happening during the same era, proving Black excellence wasn't surviving in America... it was creating history in it.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back, Know it All to another episode of the
most anticipated podcast on the Black Effect Podcast Network entitled I.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Didn't know, Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I'm your host b Dot and I absolutely love running
into folks in the streets that tell me how much
they enjoined the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And that's whether it's the physical streets.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
For example, this past Saturday, we had our monthly CAABJ meeting.
CAABJ is Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Monthly, we get together and discuss.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Ways that we can continue to tell our black stories
and how those stories get shaped and shifted through media. Well,
I met a young lady named Anne, and after the
introductory process, she came up to him and said, I
listened to your podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either. I said, for real?
She said absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Not only do I listen, but I send them to
my daughter and she shares them with my grandbaby.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Y'all. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I mean, when you're as attractive as I am and
built like a Greek god, you get used to compliments.
But compliments like that from Ms Anne, Oh, I can
never hear those enough that let me know I'm doing
something right right here with the Black podcast Network, and
sometimes I get love in them social media streets. Oh yeah,
I'm always in them dms. And I got a DM
(01:21):
recently from a young lady named Cynthia. Yeah, Cynthia Valise,
And she says, Hi, I'm a huge fan. Off I
didn't know. Maybe you didn't need a podcast. I immediately smiled,
Thank you, Cynthia. Then she asked me, have you mentioned
Florence Price. She was the first black woman to have
her symphonic work performed by major American orchestra. She was
(01:42):
an amazing composer and she's got wonderful music. Would love
to hear you talk about her if you have it,
Thanks for your time. If you ever read this, oh,
I read it and responded, and not only did I
do those two things, but also dedicated an episode to it.
But before we get educated on who Florence Price was,
it is customary I give you three of the most
(02:05):
useless facts you'll never need ever, not a day in
life about symphonies. Your first useless fact, the longest musical
performance ever written is supposed to last six hundred and
thirty nine years.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Now. This is strange.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
It was written by a legendary avant garde icon John
Cage in nineteen eighty seven, and the performance officially started
September fifth, two thousand and one. And basically it's just
musicians playing as slow as they can yo. It happens
at Saint Bacardi Church in Germany, about one hundred miles
(02:43):
southwest of Berlin. The song plays so slow that it's
only been sixteen chord changes since it started in two
thousand and one, and that chord change was February fifth,
twenty twenty four, but the seventeenth chord change is scheduled
for August fifth, twenty twenty six. Huh in Halberstat, Germany,
(03:09):
what's up?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Who trying to go?
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Your second useless fact a piano has over twelve thousand
individual parts, And your third useless fact Ludwig van Beethoven. Well,
of course we know that he revolutionized symphonic music. However,
by the time he composed his monumental Ninth Symphony, Bro's
(03:33):
Death as Hell never even got a chance to hear
it live. Does have been your three useless facts about
the symphony? Which transitions us to the black woman who
made the orchestra.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Listen?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Were you familiar with Florence Price, like Cynthia was, cause
I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I didn't know. Maybe you didn't know. I didn't know.
Didn't No, I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.
I didn't know. I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Usually, when folks think about black history in the nineteen thirties,
you know, we think in Harlem renaissance jazz clubs, maybe
some sports, maybe some boxing, but classical music absolutely not hell.
I don't even associate black people with orchestras and violins
and symphonies of the concert halls or chandeliers, not that.
But in nineteen thirty three, a black woman named Florence
(04:25):
Price changed all that forever. As Cynthia explained to me
in my IGDMS, Florence Price became the first black woman
to have a symphony performed by major American orchestra. It
was when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed her symphony Number
one in E minor. Now, I don't know what no
symphony number one in E minor means, but let's put
(04:45):
this in perspective. This is nineteen thirty three America. Segregation
is legal. Black folks is still getting denied jobs, housing, education,
just basic respect, getting lynched in the streets. And this
wasn't just some concert the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They're like
getting your movie premiered on Amazon or Netflix, or your
(05:06):
debut album performed at the Grammys, my very first comedy
special Aaron during the Super Bowl halftime performance.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
That level big business.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And what makes us story even crazy is that classical
music at that time was hell or white, hell or
male influenced. So imagine being black and a woman and
in the nineteen thirties and you're writing symphonies, ma'am, and
then having white musicians dress up in tuxedos performing your
(05:35):
music in front of elite audiences. Man, Florence Price was legendary, revolutionary,
But here go when I go purchase my shovel and
get a little deeper. Florence Price wasn't up there shucking
and jiving and sam bowing.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
She wasn't trying to sound European. No no, no, no no. No.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Florence Price mixed in that black culture into the classical music. Man,
come on, somebody, the spiritual, the church rhythms, the African
American folk traditions, and the Southern sounds. She was putting
all that into orchestra music, having them white folks in
the nineteen thirty three Chicago Symphony orchestras during the bank
Head Bouncenter to mea dance man. She puts soul in
(06:15):
the symphony. She did to the symphony what Kanye West
did to hip hop. Oh, Kanye West graduation, Kanye West,
you know, backpacked Kanye West, who the warrier, Kanye West,
and nineteen thirty three was a sneaky important here for
Black achievement overall. I mean, you gotta remember, while Florence
Price is making orchestra history, you got Jesse Owens huh,
(06:36):
beginning his rise to be one of the greatest athletes
ever and then making Hitler little like a fool at
the nineteen thirty six Olympics.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Or zor Neil Hurston.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
She documenting black Southern culture in ways the scholars still
study today. Duke Ellington, you know he were doing with jazz, huh,
elevating making it a respected high art worldwide. And of
course that Harlem Renaissance, that Black creativity that were reshaping
American culture completely. See most time history teaches the struggle,
but completely skips the innovation happening during the struggle and
(07:08):
Florence Price. She represents that perfect So why hadn't you
heard of Florence Price? Well, when she died in nineteen
fifty three, her music was basically forgotten for decades, but
then came two thousand and nine, folks discovered boxes of
her original music manuscripts inside an abandoned house in Saint Anne.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Imagine changing American music.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
History, and then your work sit abandoned in a dusty
ass house for half a century.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Boy America, America, America.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
But that rediscovery helped bring her music back to orchestras
all around the world. So if you were like me
and you never heard of Florence Price before today, don't
feel bad. A lot of people did, But I appreciate
Cynthia for hitting me in my DMS about it, because
I didn't know, and maybe you didn't either,
Welcome back, Know it All to another episode of the
most anticipated podcast on the Black Effect Podcast Network entitled I.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Didn't know, Maybe you didn't either.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
I'm your host b Dot and I absolutely love running
into folks in the streets that tell me how much
they enjoined the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
And that's whether it's the physical streets.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
For example, this past Saturday, we had our monthly CAABJ meeting.
CAABJ is Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Monthly, we get together and discuss.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Ways that we can continue to tell our black stories
and how those stories get shaped and shifted through media. Well,
I met a young lady named Anne, and after the
introductory process, she came up to him and said, I
listened to your podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either. I said, for real?
She said absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
Not only do I listen, but I send them to
my daughter and she shares them with my grandbaby.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Y'all. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
I mean, when you're as attractive as I am and
built like a Greek god, you get used to compliments.
But compliments like that from Ms Anne, Oh, I can
never hear those enough that let me know I'm doing
something right right here with the Black podcast Network, and
sometimes I get love in them social media streets. Oh yeah,
I'm always in them dms. And I got a DM
(01:21):
recently from a young lady named Cynthia. Yeah, Cynthia Valise,
And she says, Hi, I'm a huge fan. Off I
didn't know. Maybe you didn't need a podcast. I immediately smiled,
Thank you, Cynthia. Then she asked me, have you mentioned
Florence Price. She was the first black woman to have
her symphonic work performed by major American orchestra. She was
(01:42):
an amazing composer and she's got wonderful music. Would love
to hear you talk about her if you have it,
Thanks for your time. If you ever read this, oh,
I read it and responded, and not only did I
do those two things, but also dedicated an episode to it.
But before we get educated on who Florence Price was,
it is customary I give you three of the most
(02:05):
useless facts you'll never need ever, not a day in
life about symphonies. Your first useless fact, the longest musical
performance ever written is supposed to last six hundred and
thirty nine years.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Now. This is strange.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
It was written by a legendary avant garde icon John
Cage in nineteen eighty seven, and the performance officially started
September fifth, two thousand and one. And basically it's just
musicians playing as slow as they can yo. It happens
at Saint Bacardi Church in Germany, about one hundred miles
(02:43):
southwest of Berlin. The song plays so slow that it's
only been sixteen chord changes since it started in two
thousand and one, and that chord change was February fifth,
twenty twenty four, but the seventeenth chord change is scheduled
for August fifth, twenty twenty six. Huh in Halberstat, Germany,
(03:09):
what's up?
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Who trying to go?
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Your second useless fact a piano has over twelve thousand
individual parts, And your third useless fact Ludwig van Beethoven. Well,
of course we know that he revolutionized symphonic music. However,
by the time he composed his monumental Ninth Symphony, Bro's
(03:33):
Death as Hell never even got a chance to hear
it live. Does have been your three useless facts about
the symphony? Which transitions us to the black woman who
made the orchestra.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Listen?
Speaker 1 (03:45):
Were you familiar with Florence Price, like Cynthia was, cause
I wasn't.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
I didn't know. Maybe you didn't know. I didn't know.
Didn't No, I didn't know. I didn't know. I didn't know.
I didn't know. I didn't know.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Usually, when folks think about black history in the nineteen thirties,
you know, we think in Harlem renaissance jazz clubs, maybe
some sports, maybe some boxing, but classical music absolutely not hell.
I don't even associate black people with orchestras and violins
and symphonies of the concert halls or chandeliers, not that.
But in nineteen thirty three, a black woman named Florence
(04:25):
Price changed all that forever. As Cynthia explained to me
in my IGDMS, Florence Price became the first black woman
to have a symphony performed by major American orchestra. It
was when the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performed her symphony Number
one in E minor. Now, I don't know what no
symphony number one in E minor means, but let's put
(04:45):
this in perspective. This is nineteen thirty three America. Segregation
is legal. Black folks is still getting denied jobs, housing, education,
just basic respect, getting lynched in the streets. And this
wasn't just some concert the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. They're like
getting your movie premiered on Amazon or Netflix, or your
(05:06):
debut album performed at the Grammys, my very first comedy
special Aaron during the Super Bowl halftime performance.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
That level big business.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
And what makes us story even crazy is that classical
music at that time was hell or white, hell or
male influenced. So imagine being black and a woman and
in the nineteen thirties and you're writing symphonies, ma'am, and
then having white musicians dress up in tuxedos performing your
(05:35):
music in front of elite audiences. Man, Florence Price was legendary, revolutionary,
But here go when I go purchase my shovel and
get a little deeper. Florence Price wasn't up there shucking
and jiving and sam bowing.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
She wasn't trying to sound European. No no, no, no no. No.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
Florence Price mixed in that black culture into the classical music. Man,
come on, somebody, the spiritual, the church rhythms, the African
American folk traditions, and the Southern sounds. She was putting
all that into orchestra music, having them white folks in
the nineteen thirty three Chicago Symphony orchestras during the bank
Head Bouncenter to mea dance man. She puts soul in
(06:15):
the symphony. She did to the symphony what Kanye West
did to hip hop. Oh, Kanye West graduation, Kanye West,
you know, backpacked Kanye West, who the warrier, Kanye West,
and nineteen thirty three was a sneaky important here for
Black achievement overall. I mean, you gotta remember, while Florence
Price is making orchestra history, you got Jesse Owens huh,
(06:36):
beginning his rise to be one of the greatest athletes
ever and then making Hitler little like a fool at
the nineteen thirty six Olympics.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Or zor Neil Hurston.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
She documenting black Southern culture in ways the scholars still
study today. Duke Ellington, you know he were doing with jazz, huh,
elevating making it a respected high art worldwide. And of
course that Harlem Renaissance, that Black creativity that were reshaping
American culture completely. See most time history teaches the struggle,
but completely skips the innovation happening during the struggle and
(07:08):
Florence Price. She represents that perfect So why hadn't you
heard of Florence Price? Well, when she died in nineteen
fifty three, her music was basically forgotten for decades, but
then came two thousand and nine, folks discovered boxes of
her original music manuscripts inside an abandoned house in Saint Anne.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Imagine changing American music.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
History, and then your work sit abandoned in a dusty
ass house for half a century.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Boy America, America, America.
Speaker 1 (07:36):
But that rediscovery helped bring her music back to orchestras
all around the world. So if you were like me
and you never heard of Florence Price before today, don't
feel bad. A lot of people did, But I appreciate
Cynthia for hitting me in my DMS about it, because
I didn't know, and maybe you didn't either,
Host
Brian "B Daht" McLaughlin
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