Female Composers??

[mm75]

Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677). Nice music!
http://kopszak.mnw.art.pl/as/uccellini-en.html

[rojo]

Hmm, nice find, mm75.

[ses]

Kaija Saariaho born 1952. Finnish (what else?). I have a lovely record with "Private Gardens" from Ondine ODE 906-2.
She works mostly with electroacoustics muisc.

[zlya]

I believe that the gender of a composer has exactly as much significance as their sexual preference. Though perhaps of some analytical interest, in evaluating music gender should not matter, nor occasion any particular remark. I eagerly await the day when female composers are known for their music, rather than their gender, and forum topics such as this one are rendered as ridiculous as discussions about which composers had blond hair or cleft chins.

[NaxosUSA]

I didn't see the incredible female American composer Joan Tower mentioned. She's been a part of some recordings for us here at Naxos. She has just come off a tour of playing her newest work, "Made In America" with over 80 performances by 65 orchestras.

David

[Theodor Ulieriu]

I see that no one mentioned here Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guere (1665-1729), French prodigy child, harpsichord virtuoso and composer. Besides being acclaimed by Louis XIV and the Versailles court at the age of 5, count her among the first composers to introduce cantatas and trio-sonatas in France and as the first woman to compose a tragedie lyrique (Cephale et Procris, 1694). To my mind, totally unignorable.

[rojo]

I believe that the gender of a composer has exactly as much significance as their sexual preference. Though perhaps of some analytical interest, in evaluating music gender should not matter, nor occasion any particular remark. I eagerly await the day when female composers are known for their music, rather than their gender, and forum topics such as this one are rendered as ridiculous as discussions about which composers had blond hair or cleft chins.

I absolutely agree with you, zlya. Unfortunately, it may take a while...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/ar...=1&oref=slogin

Hopefully the NY Times won`t mind me quoting from the article here-

''Yet evidently music by women still needs champions; women remain strikingly underrepresented in the ranks of composers. According the American Symphony Orchestra League, 1 percent of the music American orchestras played in 2004-5 was written by women. That figure jumped to 2 percent in 2005-6, thanks to Ms. Joan Tower, who was the most-played living composer over that season because of the project “Made in America,” a commissioned work played by 65 orchestras around the country.
This statistic also reflects, of course, that most orchestral music performed today comes from a core repertory of works written by a pantheon of men; 19th-century female composers are unlikely ever to become more than an interesting footnote. Yet even among living composers, women represent a distinct minority.''

Maybe women fare better in chamber music repertoire, etc.?

[rojo]

Apparently Ms. Tower now curates a new festival promoting women composers-

http://www.scena.org/brand/brand.asp...icle/6588.html

[tomato]

When I was living in Knoxville, Tennessee, the radio station had a special on women composers. Of course, Amy Beach was included. I remember the name Helen Hopechurch, and I thought her music was quite melodious.

I read somewhere that Amy Beach was married to a big-time male chauvinist businessman who inhibited her work. Most of her most ambitious compositions were written after her husband's death.

I also read somewhere that Felix Mendelssohn took his dear little sister aside and explained to her that composing music was not lady-like. However, he would be glad to include some of her short piano pieces in his forthcoming Songs Without Words.

Queen Victoria once designated one of those pieces as her favorite, not realizing that it was written by Felix's little sister.

[some guy]

and

Michele Bokanowski
Beatriz Ferreyra
Pauline Oliveros
Eliane Radigue
Christine Groult
Alice Shields
Ana-Maria Avram
Christina Kubisch
Elsa Justel
Francoise Barriere
Zeena Parkins
Roxanne Turcotte
Frances Marie Uitti

Well, there's at least a short list of particularly good composers. Other than the ones already mentioned, that is.

(Hi rojo. Looks like a nice place y'all got here...)

[rojo]

Hiya some guy. It is nice, ain`t it.

Glad to see you here; maybe you can help bring this place into the 21st century.

[some guy]

Well, all the women on my short list are alive, and they're all still active. And it is 2007. So...

(I just heard Beatriz' latest piece at its world premiere. Very nice, indeed.)

[some guy]

My apologies for double posting, but I just noticed rojo's location: Montreal.

Why, that's one of the big Canadian hotbeds of electroacoustic activity. Francis Dhomont taught there for many years. Robert Normandeau is there, as is Christian Calon. Montreal is the home of empreintes DIGITALes, which is one of the largest labels in the world devoted to electroacoustic music.

You're right in the thick of it, there!!

[rojo]

See, you`re helping already!

No law against double posting here; on the contrary, feel free.

And yes, ccm is alive and well here in Mtl., I believe. It appears however that you know more about it than I do! Shame on me.

[Phillip Wilcher]

I am from Australia and one of my mentors was the composer Miriam Hyde. If you care to visit my website you can read a little about her with a special remembrance in the "Tribute" section:

www.phillipwilcher.com

There was Dame Ethyl Smythe (I think i have her name correct!) who was english and had associations with the Bloomsbury group. Here in Australia we had Peggy Glanville-Hicks also and if you care to visit the Australia Music centre website you'll find there are many female composers working here.
Best wishes,
PW