20 December 2025

Scoring:

various arrangements including,

(i) arr. H. Thomas for wind ensemble (2fl.2ob.2cl.bcl.a sax.t sax.bn.hn)

(ii)arr. R. S. Jones for small orchestra (fl.ob.2cl.bn-2hn-strings)

Duration: 4’

Date: 1951

Availability of performing materials: 

(i) wind ensemble version available through [email protected]

(ii) small orchestra version available at https://imslp.org/wiki/Adoration_(Price,_Florence)

Florence Price (1887-1953) is one of the more established names in the developing canon of women composers and her Adoration is something of a calling card for her music. Price originally composed the piece for solo organ.

I was first introduced to Adoration by my Dad who had heard it broadcast as an encore at the BBC Proms in 2023 in an arrangement for solo trumpet and strings played by Aaron Azunda Akugbo and Chineke! Orchestra.

Adoration is a gorgeous miniature: a four-minute ternary piece where the outer sections present a memorable, sinuous, melodic line infused with blues harmonies and short call and response interjections. These frame a slightly slower middle section which sinks into the sub-dominant key and inverts the more common pattern of tension and release found in so many arch forms. The immediate appeal of this work and the fact that this music is now out of copyright means that there has been a proliferation of arrangements and transcriptions for all sorts of vocal and instrumental combinations in a variety of keys. If you look on IMSLP you can find 28 instrumental versions ranging from solo guitar to 6 violas to small orchestra.

The first performance I gave of this work was in an arrangement I made for the wind ensemble (2fl.2ob.2cl.bcl.a sax.t sax.bn.hn) at the Workers’ Music Association Summer School in 2023. I then programmed the small orchestral arrangement made by Robert Samuel Jones which is available on IMSLP with Chester Sinfonia who played it in their Winter Sharing event in 2025.

A couple of members of Chester Sinfonia already knew Adoration but for most players it was unfamiliar repertoire and they were moved by it from the first play through. It is relatively simple to learn although at bb. 15-22 the viola and cello parts require careful tuning. The gentle, pulsating crotchet accompaniment in the outer sections - it needs to keep moving in my view - is marked semi-staccato (slurred and staccato). This oxymoron of an articulation required some experimentation before we felt we had the right collective approach to balancing the continuity and segmentation of the sound.

The audience response to this seasonal performance felt slightly muted but perhaps that was appropriate. In a concert that included movements from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite this piece created a moment of stillness that cut through the sounds of sleighbells, cymbals and celeste. It was a beautiful antidote to the excesses of Christmas (and Tchaikovsky’s more repetitious forms and flamboyant orchestration!).