Flattery or forgery? Row erupts over Vienna Phil’s re-orchestration of a Florence Price piece

2026-03-19 - 07:09

Inclusion of first Black woman in US to write a symphony in Vienna’s New Year’s Day Concert was a long overdue recognition. But how much of her music was actually played? The first of January feels a long time ago. But barely 10 weeks have passed since conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin brought in 2026 with the Vienna Philharmonic in its New Year’s Day Concert. On the programme was one piece which symbolised that even this ultra-traditionalist event was beginning to open up its repertoire. Instead of the Strauss and more Strauss that has defined the New Year’s Day programmes for many decades, there was music by Florence Price on the lineup. Price is a composer Nézet-Séguin has done more to champion than any other conductor of a major US orchestra, putting music by the first Black woman in the US to write a symphony at the centre of his discography. Yet the Rainbow Waltz that is credited to Price on Sony’s album of the concert isn’t actually a piece by Price. Wolfgang Dörner’s supposed “arrangement” of Price’s original music for solo piano has been called by the Price expert John Michael Cooper – who has edited and published more of Price’s work than any other musicologist – the “sincerest form of insult” to Price and her music, labelling the work a “forgery”. Continue reading...