We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Wide as Heaven: A Century of Song by Black American Composers via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $15.99 USD or more 

     

about

In 1933, Frederick Stock conducted the Chicago Symphony in Florence
Price’s (1887–1953) Symphony No. 1 in E minor, making her the first Black woman to have a work performed by a major American orchestra. A gifted pianist as well, Price studied at the New England Conservatory in Boston, and her song accompaniments reflect a deep understanding of the instrument. Her “Song to the Dark Virgin” mirrors the powerful eroticism of Langston Hughes’ poem in the piano’s rolling chords and rising arpeggios, which reach their culmination under the words

“Would that I were a flame, / But one sharp, leaping flame / To annihilate thy body,/ Thou Dark One.”

Price was in touch with Hughes during the time she set this, and the song was introduced to the public by none other than Marian Anderson.

lyrics

Songs to the Dark Virgin
(Langston Hughes)

I.
Would
That I were a jewel,
A shattered jewel,
That all my shining brilliants
Might fall at thy feet,
Thou dark one.

II.
Would
That I were a garment,
A shimmering, silken garment,
That all my folds
Might wrap about thy body,
Absorb thy body,
Hold and hide thy body,
Thou dark one.

III.
Would
That I were a flame,
But one sharp, leaping flame
To annihilate thy body,
Thou dark one.

credits

from Wide as Heaven: A Century of Song by Black American Composers, released March 1, 2024

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

New World Records image

New World Records Brooklyn, New York

Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc., which records under the label New World Records, was founded in 1975.

We are dedicated to the documentation of American music that is largely ignored by the commercial recording companies.

contact / help

Contact New World Records

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like New World Records, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featuring interviews with LA music scene pillar Kamasi Washington, and new London-based duo Mrcy.

listen now