Where has Florence Price been all our lives? Waiting for the world to open its ears and consciences to composers beyond the bounds of conventional musical wisdom, meaning works by deceased (mostly) European males. Price (1887-1953) is among a growing number of composers of colour who are receiving a rush of performances and recordings, partly due to increased calls for racial equity but also because musicians are realising how much they (and audiences) have missed out by not exploring this repertoire.

The Catalyst Quartet began such a journey in its series ‘Uncovered’ for Azica Records with an absorbing programme of music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (4/21^US). Price is the subject of the second volume, which includes six chamber works, including four receiving their first recordings. These scores show the Arkansas-born composer to be a master of her craft who imbues everything with an abundance of feeling and energy. She weaves her many sources – from Spirituals and folk elements to Brahms, Dvořák and even Rachmaninov – seamlessly into the fabrics while shaping forceful, poignant and inventive narratives.

Price’s Quintet in A minor for piano and strings begins with a richly expressive Allegro non troppo followed by three shorter movements, the second of which is one of her irresistible excursions into the African dance form known as the juba. Another such example appears in the String Quartet in A minor, which is structured similarly to the quintet.

Two other works for string quartet, Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint and Five Folksongs in Counterpoint, reveal the wondrous sonic and harmonic imagination Price cast on familiar pieces. The remaining scores, the String Quartet in G minor (unfinished) and another Quintet for piano and strings (possibly unfinished), also deserve attention for their vibrant and poetic interplay.

As on the Coleridge-Taylor album, the Catalyst Quartet play Price’s music with superb thrust and nuance, and they are joined in the quintets by Michelle Cann, a pianist of sterling artistry.