# Female Composers Iterum



## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

*Whilst the debate goes on let's get back on topic with this thread.*

I voted for Hildegard van Bingen because although I love her music, she was the only female composer I have heard of (name wise anyway), so please, educate me.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Sofia Gubaidulina, who wrote this violin concerto based on the "royal theme" of Bach's Musical Offering.





Unsuk Chin, a student of Ligeti, who has written her own set of etudes for piano:





Kaija Saariaho wrote this Clarinet Concerto, along with many pieces that integrate orchestra or soloists with live electronics:


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I like Barbara Strozzi - a 17th century Italian. Her story is inspiring. She was illegitimate because her mother was a servant, but her father gave her a musical education & full acknowledgement. She in her turn lived with someone who could not marry her for social reasons and after his death supported herself and her son by publishing her compositions. Here is one of my favourite:






'What can one do if the rebel stars have no pity? ... What can be said?'


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## Kleinzeit (May 15, 2013)

Dame Elizabeth Violet Maconchy Le Fanu


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Mahlerian said:


> Sofia Gubaidulina, who wrote this violin concerto based on the "royal theme" of Bach's Musical Offering.


This piece is really something - I like the way she uses the chromatic progressions on the violin whilst leaving the melody to work its way round the supporting instruments. Gubaidulina certainly gets some of the instruments to do interesting things, especially the horns making 'whoooping' sounds.

Around 18.30 it is reminiscent of something religious, the double bases exquisite. Those bouts of depth keep coming, around 28.50 is just profound - it really does remind me of the multi-part harmonies of a Russian Orthodox Choir. I can hear bits of John Tavener (the newer) around 34.00 (but thats the orthodox usage methinks).

What a superb ending - what a great piece - I will be looking into her works.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Ingenue said:


> I like Barbara Strozzi - a 17th century Italian.


I have actually heard this before and never thought about who composed it - it was beautiful to listen to but because I looked no further into the music I didn't find anything out about the composer.


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## Guest (Jul 9, 2013)

I like your thread, Bix.

I'd play, too, but I've done all this already, multiple times.

I don't think I've met anyone new since I made my last list.

Maybe I left off Carola Bauckholt. Dunno.

If I mentioned Andrea Neumann on any of those other threads, then that's the most current post.

The post with the most current information I have about composers who also happen to be female.


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## Air (Jul 19, 2008)

some guy, you should post more in the Current Listening thread. Perhaps give a short description of the pieces you are listening to and why you enjoy them. I think it would be enlightening to many of us.

I don't think it's that people here are close-minded and unwilling to listen to the music that you have to offer. It's just that most of us don't know where to start.











Above is my addition to this thread. Can you believe that she wrote the piano concerto when she was only 14? It's hard to say which of the Schumann's was the more talented.


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## ComposerOfAvantGarde (Dec 2, 2011)

Louise Farrenc is one of my all time favourite composers. The best melodist of the 19th century, you'll believe this when you hear her trio op. 45.






Utterly remarkable.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I'll put in another vote for Cecile Chaminade who wrote music as beautiful as herself. From Wikipedia:

"Chaminade married a music publisher from Marseilles, Louis-Mathieu Carbonel, in 1901, and on account of his advanced age the marriage was rumored to be one of convenience. He died in 1907, and Chaminade did not remarry."

Ahh - I was born too late!


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## Guest (Jul 10, 2013)

Air said:


> some guy, you should post more in the Current Listening thread. Perhaps give a short description of the pieces you are listening to and why you enjoy them. I think it would be enlightening to many of us.


I'm flattered that you would think so.

I also spend most of my time either listening to, thinking about, or writing about music. I even made up my current job of running an online music magazine just so I could go on doing those three things.

My current contributions to TC are enough of a busman's holiday as it is!

I'm listening to the two CD compilation of all the GUM recordings from 1987-1990 right now. Turntable mayhem. Not as wild or as various as Yoshihide or Tetreault, but still, good clean fun.

Wait! The two GUM people are both guys. As are Yoshihide or Tetreault. Spit!

OK, OK. Not as wild or as various as Sachiko M or Katsura Mouri, but still, good clean fun. Whew, good save, eh?


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## mmsbls (Mar 6, 2011)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Louise Farrenc is one of my all time favourite composers. The best melodist of the 19th century, you'll believe this when you hear her trio op. 45.


I adore Farrenc. Basically everything I've heard from her is beautiful - Piano Trios (Op 17, 44, 45), Piano Quintets, Sextet, Nonet, Symphony No. 2 and 3. I'd love to hear more.

Clara Schumann's trio and concerto are lovely as well.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

_This_ is why I like TC so much. People sharing composers and their works that I had never heard or before!

I'm excited to explore these works.

:tiphat:

Btw, Bix: "iterum" is a word that I had only encountered once before; I had completely forgotten about it.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Air said:


> some guy, you should post more in the Current Listening thread. Perhaps give a short description of the pieces you are listening to and why you enjoy them. I think it would be enlightening to many of us.
> 
> I don't think it's that people here are close-minded and unwilling to listen to the music that you have to offer. It's just that most of us don't know where to start.


I second this idea. I'd rather be introduced to new music than be merely repeatedly and falsely accused by its advocates of not listening to enough of it .


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Novelette said:


> _This_ is why I like TC so much. People sharing composers and their works that I had never heard or before!
> 
> I'm excited to explore these works.
> 
> ...


I thought iterum sounded more polite, I think using the word 'again' would have sounded sarcastic.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Thank you all, so much to listen to


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

some guy said:


> I like your thread, Bix.
> 
> I'd play, too, but I've done all this already, multiple times.
> 
> ...


I will search out your other threads and posts.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

I've posted this many times in the past but this seems another good opportunity.

Roxanna Panufnik - (Daughter of the late Andrezj Panufnik.) 





And a very recent discovery of mine is Ruth Gipps. I've only heard her 2nd Symphony which is great.
There is only this rather dated recording of her Piano Concerto on youtube which I'm listening to for the first time as I type but it might give you some idea. Sounds pretty arresting to me. Great piano entry.


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## Novelette (Dec 12, 2012)

Bix said:


> I thought iterum sounded more polite, I think using the word 'again' would have sounded sarcastic.


Sarcasm is a way of life...


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Misato Mochizuki wrote some really interesting music. They usually create atmospheres that sort of remind me of a horror story in Japanese mythology or something.










Ustvolskaya, Shostakovich's love interest and "lady with the hammer". She got that nickname from the aggressively percussive nature of her music. It takes quite a bit of getting used to. But it's beautiful in a weird way when you do. The soft spots often sound serene and menacing at the same time, and then the loud parts unleash the manic beast, the "hammer" part of her nickname.










Gubaidulina has already been mentioned, but I want to point out my favorite piece by her, "The Seven Last Words" for Cello, Bayan and String Orchestra. Make sure you make some time for this one. It's an incredible journey told through music of the suffering of Jesus on the cross. It's not melodic, but there are many thematic gestures that weave in and out together throughout the piece. It builds to an exhaustively painful sounding climax and then the ending is just incredibly haunting.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Before I mention some works by female composers I know, I think this book is an invaluable resource for those who want to delve into this area.

Dr. Anne K. Gray (2007). _The World of Women in Classical Music._ San Diego, CA: Seven Locks Press.

I have got this book, which covers not only women composers, but in other areas of classical (eg. Musicians of many kinds, orchestra managers, musicologists). It also has a broad overview of women's place in the music scene throughout history which is my area of interest. I don't know most of the women composers in it, there are many biographies in it (its over 1000 pages). But its worth consulting for a person who wants to persue this topic in some detail. I got it to get to know them but so far its not happened as deeply as I wished, this is a vast area, esp. after 1945 when many women composers enter the scene. Maybe there are two histories of classical music - one for the guys and one for the gals? But its been enlightening, in terms of the bits I've read.

I'd imagine this book would be in libraries if you look for them. Some details at googlebooks here.

In its introductory chapter, here are some female composers the writer singles out of the hundreds she covers in the book.

*Ancient times:*
Princess-Priestess Enheduanna (c 2500 BC - Mesopotamia) - the first documented female composer, according to the intro to the book!

*Medieval:*
Hildegard of Bingen

*Renaissance to Baroque* in Italy - Florence, Mantua, Venice and France - mainly female singers and musicians who also composed music attached to courts
Maddalena Casulana, Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Antonia Bembo, Elisabeth Claude Jacquet de la Guerre [my addition is that Bach's second wife, Anna Magdalena, is considered a noted female composer of Baroque period].

(The writer notes that until the late Baroque, there where hardly any women composers, as it was virtually if not literally banned for them to do it, principally by Craftsmens' Guilds and edicts of the Catholic Church).
*
Classical Period, 18th century *- mainly women from aristocratic families (some taught by Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, etc).
Princess Anna Amalia
Anna Amalia
Maddalena di Lombardini Sirmen
Marianne von Martinez
Maria Theresia von Paradis
*
Romantic Period, 19th century*
Louise Reinhardt
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Marie Szymanowska
Pauline Viardot Garcia
Cecile Chaminade
Ethel Smyth
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach

*20th Century*
Lili Boulanger
Germaine Tailleferre
Elisabeth Lutyens
Elizabeth Maconchy
Wendy Carlos
Pauline Oliveros
Ellen Zwilich
Shulamit Ran
Melinda Wagner
Violeta Dinescu
Adriana Holsky
Sofia Gubaidulina
Elena Firsova
Florence Price Smith
Augusta Read Thomas
Dalit Warshaw

As for some of those pieces that easily come to mind, here they are:

*Fanny Hensel* (Mendelssohn's sister) _Piano trio in D minor, Op. 11_ - amazing piece, the finale in particular is just as good but less conventional than her brothers two works in the genre.

*Sofia Gubaidulina*, as mentioned, I am partial to her _Seven Words_ for bayan, cello and strings. Its got those signature choral harmonies and wierd effects (eg. glissandi galore). Principally influenced by Webern and Shostakovich, who told her to "stick to her incorrect path" in the face of Soviet officialdom and dogma (particularly in terms of the spiritual aspect of her music, the title alluding to religion in that work had to be obscured at its premiere in the early 1980's).

*Elena Kats-Chernin*, contemporary Australian composer, got her _Piano Concerto #2_ and it's a favourite work combining many things from some sort of minimalism, Chopin, cabaret. Noted for her ballet scores and film music.
*
Germaine Tailleferre*, of Les Six, got her _Sonata for Solo Harp_ - I can hear influences of Satie there, as well as the lightness, elegance and maybe whimsy one associates with French music

*Peggy Glanville-Hicks*, another Australian with hyphenated name, this one equally eclectic. In her style, combined elements of impressionism with atonality, serialism and neo-classicism. I have heard more of her music than what I've got from her, but her _Three Gymnopedies_ for chamber group is an interesting synthesis of influences from her teacher Vaughan Williams, as well as ancinet modal type music and Satie - but its an early work. Her songs are notable as well and she was prolific in the area of opera.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Air said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bt_X-t1mX40 The Clara Schumann PC


This is really very nice, she has some very unique themes in this piece. The cascades at the beginning are great, the orchestration is clever and the romance section is beautiful (that's where I found the unique bits).


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Air said:


> Clara Schumann Piano Trio


This andante is truly beautiful, I cried slightly listening to it. I'm going to listen to this in context of the whole trio, all four movements.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

ComposerOfAvantGarde said:


> Louise Farrenc is one of my all time favourite composers. The best melodist of the 19th century, you'll believe this when you hear her trio op. 45.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Beautiful, but not as nice as the Schumann (in fact strike that until I've listened to both fully instead of individual movements).


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

Weston said:


> I'll put in another vote for Cecile Chaminade who wrote music as beautiful as herself. From Wikipedia:
> 
> "Chaminade married a music publisher from Marseilles, Louis-Mathieu Carbonel, in 1901, and on account of his advanced age the marriage was rumored to be one of convenience. He died in 1907, and Chaminade did not remarry."
> 
> Ahh - I was born too late!


This is just stunning, I know I'm quite biased to solo piano, but it truly is great.


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## MagneticGhost (Apr 7, 2013)

Bix said:


> This andante is truly beautiful, I cried slightly listening to it. I'm going to listen to this in context of the who trio, all four movements.


Just thought I'd join you and am listening to the Piano Trio now. You're right about that Andante. Lovely stuff, although I'm not crying yet - it's just hayfever


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

MagneticGhost said:


> I've posted this many times in the past but this seems another good opportunity.
> 
> Roxanna Panufnik - (Daughter of the late Andrezj Panufnik


Goodness, it's like they've mashed Bingen, Tavener the new and Pärt together with a little shakuhachi. I like it.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

violadude said:


> "lady with the hammer"


You certainly weren't joking.


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## Bix (Aug 12, 2010)

I just can't move away from the andante of Clara Schumann's piano trio, it's just .......... maybe it's working with how I am right now.


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## hreichgott (Dec 31, 2012)

Is it time for the Helpful List in this thread as well?
(Prepare to be overwhelmed with 202 excellent composers... and this is only the contemporary era)
http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/a-helpful-list/


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## Kleinzeit (May 15, 2013)

Galina Ustvolskaya. The hard flipside of Morton Feldman.


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## LordBlackudder (Nov 13, 2010)

Kinuyo Yamashita
Kumi Tanioka
Yoko Shimomura


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

LordBlackudder said:


> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3PJyiKxQhY
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I comparison to the Ustvolskaya sonata the two first of these seems woefully bland and harmless, even Satie appears like the aggressive original! I can't in my wildest fantasies understand how anyone could listen to these more than once without feeling cheated on! 

Sorry for my unironic externalization!

/ptr


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## Kleinzeit (May 15, 2013)

ptr said:


> I comparison to the Ustvolskaya sonata the two first of these seems woefully bland and harmless, even Satie appears like the aggressive original! I can't in my wildest fantasies understand how anyone could listen to these more than once without feeling cheated on!
> 
> Sorry for my unironic externalization!
> 
> /ptr


 Ha! I just said that Ustvolskaya is not unlike Satie in the 'current listening'! Detachment.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

violadude said:


> Ustvolskaya, Shostakovich's love interest and "lady with the hammer". She got that nickname from the aggressively percussive nature of her music. It takes quite a bit of getting used to. But it's beautiful in a weird way when you do. The soft spots often sound serene and menacing at the same time, and then the loud parts unleash the manic beast, the "hammer" part of her nickname.


I appreciate you and kleinzeit putting me onto this interesting composer. I just finished the first of what I expect will be many hearings of her Grand Duet for Cello and Piano (



), and will listen to her sonatas shortly.

I'm fascinated by this claim of hers: "There is no link whatsoever between my music and that of any other composer, living or dead." It is practically the opposite of Shostakovich, who seems always to have suffered from Mahleria and been shaken by fugues. I'd love to have been a fly on the wall as they discussed the great composers of their past and present!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galina_Ustvolskaya


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## QuietGuy (Mar 1, 2014)

Also by Cecille Chaminade Flute Concertino op 107. Beautiful from start to finish.


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