Female Composers??

Rune Vejby

Commodore of Water Music
Hi all,


Last night I as wondering: Have there ever been any female classical composers around??? I don't recall anyone in any period of time.

Do you guys know something about this???
 

rojo

(Ret)
Re: Female Compsers??

Hi Rune,

Well, off the top of my head, I come up with the following- <ul type="square"> Cecile Chaminade
Clara Schumann
Fanny Mendelssohn
Nadia Boulanger [/list]Unfortunately I don`t have time at the moment to elaborate on them. But I have played some of their works- good stuff.
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giovannimusica

Commodore de Cavaille-Coll
Re: Female Compsers??

Hi Rune,

Here are three female composers: Jeanne Demessieux, Elfrida Andree, Amy Beach

Giovanni
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Gareth

Commodore of Water Music
Re: Female Compsers??

I have heard of Amy Beach before, but thats about it.

Gareth.
 

rojo

(Ret)
Re: Female Compsers??

I think Billie Holiday counts also, she co-wrote 'God Bless the Child', I believe.

And there`s also Lady John Scott (aka Alicia Anne Spottiswoode,) who is credited with writing the tune to that old Scottish song, 'Annie Laurie.'

One has to keep in mind that women were not necessarily taken all that seriously in olden times; I think few women had the means to become composers in the past. If you check out this link to wikipedia, you`ll notice that there are considerably more female composers as time has passed...thank goodness!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_composers

That`s quite a list, considering...

Hey, it says Anne Boleyn was a composer- who knew!

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Todd

New member
Re: Female Compsers??

Of course there have been and are female composers. They’ve just been less successful than their male counterparts, at least in terms of what gets played and recorded. And they’ve been around for a long time. Looking for names, one can always go all the way back to Hildegard von Bingen in the Middle Ages. I’d say there are more at least reasonably successful women composers now than in prior centuries, and indeed some are very good. I count Sofia Gubaidulina among the elite composers working today, and Augusta Read Thomas, Kaija Saariaho, and Gloria Coates, to name three, all write individual, well-crafted works that get played and recorded. For instance, Ms Thomas has attracted the attention of Pierre Boulez, who has led the premieres of some of her works, and Ms Saariaho works routinely with Esa-Pekka Salonen. Ms Gubaidulina is an A-lister who writes for and collaborates with people like Valery Gergiev, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Yuri Bashmet. Her St John Passion is a masterpiece as far as I’m concerned, as is her Viola Concerto.
 

Mr Salek

New member
Many female composers were forbidden to publish their music. Maria Von Paradis is one of the ones who did.
 

acciaccatura

Guest
Hildegard von Bingen, medieval German composer
Thea Musgrave, contemporary British composer

Both of the highest calibre.
 

rojo

(Ret)
Hi Corno- I mentioned Cécile Chaminade earlier, but that`s an interesting link about her. I`ve played her 'Scarf Dance'; very charming...:)
 

Naomi McFadyen

New member
I'm a female composer, although, brass band.
Judith Bingham is also a brass band composer.

Orchestral/Chamber: Judith Weir

Film Music: Shirley Walker
 

catolliver

New member
Germaine Tailleferre is pretty well known but often forgotten. She was a member of Les Six, along with Georges Auric, Louis Durey, Arthur Honneger, Darius Milhaud and Francis Poulenc. She wrote primarily for piano, but also has four operas and several orchestral works as well.

On a side note, my father says she is a distant relative of mine, she died in 1983, and that the Tailleferre family changed it's name to Tolliver (my last name) when they moved to the states. I haven't been able to confirm that, but that's the story anyway.

-Chris
 

Brad Stark

New member
I remember hearing the music of Amy Beach on a radio documentary about a year ago and being very impressed by its quality and imagination. I thought the music deserved to be much better known and I wanted to hear more of it. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find many recordings of her music.... According to some information that I've come across it appears she was extremely productive, often a sign of a good composer.

Anyone know any good Amy Beach Recordings to look out for?

p.s. There are many excellent female composers around in the modern era

Brad
 

catolliver

New member
Amy Beach is great. She often goes quite unnoticed, but is well worth the listen. She doesn't get nearly the ovation as she should. Here are a few CD's I found on a google search:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00001T6KP/ref=pd_krex_sdu_sims/102-1311827-9007341?n=5174

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008ZZ2Z/102-1311827-9007341?v=glance&n=5174

and I can't forget my piano & composition teacher:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004LMBH/qid=1148012353/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-1311827-9007341?s=music&v=glance&n=5174
 

Ouled Nails

New member
I guess that news from Russia do not always travel very fast in the western media. I am learning today (1-2-2007) of the death of Galina Ustvolskaya on 12-22-2006, at the age of 87. She studied with Shostakovich, among others, in the late 1930's and after World War II, until 1947. She then taught composition in Leningrad. Along with Gubaidulina and Firsova, she represents a leading female composer in the mid- to late-twentieth century USSR. Her piano music, indeed, her work in general is notable for its condensed expression: intense, bold, even violent. She was another individual who developed her own style and who stayed independent from the compositional trends of her time. Galina Ustvolskaya was not the most prolific of composers. Her opus includes five symphonies, six piano sonatas and other piano works, such as her 12 preludes, some symphonic poems and suites and quite a bit of chamber music. May she rest in peace.
 
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Sybarite

New member
Grace Williams is mentioned in the Wikipedia list that Rojo supplied. The BBC Music magazine a couple of months ago included her Ballad of Orchestra on a CD with Benjamin Britten's Plymouth Town. Very interesting.

It's the same situation as with the bulk of the rest of the arts and other areas of cultural life – women have not had the chance to be successful or otherwise.

We make progress, albeit slowly; a point that's illustrated by just how recently it is that women have been allowed to play in many major orchestras (the Vienna Philharmonic, for instance, only allowed women to join in 1997).
 
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Ouled Nails

New member
For her to turn down the Order of the British Empire she must have felt very strongly about her marginalization within the profession. I have not read an extended biography on Ustvolskaya but I understand that she lived very much in reclusion and, when asked if her music was much tributary to Shostakovich's, she repeatedly asserted that being the student of a great master was not synonymous to becoming his follower in composition.

Cryptic message to Sybarite: Thank you!
 
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Sybarite

New member
For her to turn down the Order of the British Empire she must have felt very strongly about her marginalization within the profession.

The Wikipedia article doesn't make it clear, but that could be the case or it could be that she didn't believe in the British honours system (other people have refused gongs for that reason).

By the way, Sybarite, I note that you have revised your message. I wish I knew how! Please tell!!

Just hit the 'edit' button that's just below your post, make the changes you want and then hit 'save'. :)
 

Wunderhorn

New member
Nadia Boulanger
Clara Schumann

These women were both fine composers, and their have been many more in the 20th century, I'm sure. I personally would like to hear a women's symphony!
 
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