Hoe Cake, from Three Little Negro Dances. Florence Price

Born in 1887, Florence Beatrice Price is recognized as the pioneer of accomplishing many “firsts.” She was a pianist, composer, organist, and educator who broke through monumental barriers as an African American woman in classical music. She wrote hundreds of works including symphonies, concerti, choir works, chamber works, and an extensive amount of advanced and pedagogical compositions for the piano. While her training in music was steeped in European traditions, her music weaves the sounds palettes of African American spirituals, folk dances, and her Southern roots. For a full biography and list of completed works, visit the Florence Price website.

Hoe Cake by Florence Price is a mid-intermediate piece composed in 1933. It is one of three pieces from the dance suite Three Little Negro Dances which encompasses African-American folk styles and dance rhythms. The three dances were later turned into an orchestration titled Suite of Dances in the 1950s.

Hoe cake contains an energetic, syncopated melody played over jolly accompanimental patterns. The animated melody and accompaniment seem to evoke a sunny morning in a lively kitchen while someone bakes a “hoe cake”: a Southern style cake made of cornmeal, water, and salt. The syncopation in the piece lends itself to a carefree and exciting character. The sudden changes in dynamics add to the musical shaping and cheerful characters within the piece. Additionally, the A-B-A structure gives students the opportunity to contrast the sections by exploring different sounds and characters at the piano.

While the piece is in C Major and only two pages long, there are a few challenges the student might come across: difficulty with the legato and staccato articulation patterns between the hands, lining up the syncopated right hand with the open positioned, detached left hand accompaniment patterns, and using appropriate wrist movements to facilitate executing the latter.

Practice strategies for this piece include:

• Observe the eighth rests and lean into ties to facilitate the swing in the syncopated rhythms.
• First page: Block the left hand intervals to feel where the hand will be jumping throughout the phrases.
• Second page: Using a down and up motion in the wrist to execute legato and staccato articulation appropriately.
• Practice the hands separately to voice properly (especially in measures 69-76 where the melody jumps to the left hand).
• Observe dynamics such as crescendos, sudden diminuendos, and forzandos which add to the shaping and characterization of the piece.

Sources

• Opera Philadelphia: Florence Price
• Jackson, Barbara Garvey. “Florence Price, Composer.” The Black Perspective in Music 5, no. 1 (1977): 31–43. https://doi.org/10.2307/1214357
• Photo: The Perseverance of Florence Price. Modexto Symphony Orchestra