Ulf Daude

Flo­rence Price’s Sym­pho­ny No. 3 was com­mis­sio­ned by the Works Pro­gress Administration’s Fede­ral Music Pro­ject during the height of the Gre­at Depres­si­on. It was first per­for­med at the Detroit Insti­tu­te of Arts on Novem­ber 6, 1940, by the Detroit Civic Orches­tra under the con­duc­tor Val­ter Poole.

The com­po­si­ti­on is Price’s third sym­pho­ny, fol­lo­wing her Sym­pho­ny in E minor—the first sym­pho­ny by a black woman to be per­for­med by a major Ame­ri­can orchestra—and her lost Sym­pho­ny No. 2.