🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth, Joshua Weilerstein & Lausanne Chamber Orchestra:
🎵 Suite for Strings, 1st movement
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #JoshuaWeilerstein #LausanneChamberOrchestra
#ethelsmyth — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #ethelsmyth, aggregated by home.social.
-
-
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #ClassicalLive
Ethel Smyth, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Andrews & BBC Singers:
🎵 Der Wald (1st mvt, Prologue)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #BBCSymphonyOrchestra #JohnAndrews #BBCSingers -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #WhereTheLightSings
Ethel Smyth, Camilla Voigt, Cathrine Winnes & Swedish Wind Ensemble:
🎵 The Wreckers (Overture)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #CamillaVoigt #CathrineWinnes #SwedishWindEnsemble -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #EssentialClassics
Ethel Smyth:
🎵 Suite for Strings, Op. 1a - V. Allegro con moto
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth
▶️ 🪄 Automagic 🔊 show 📻 playlist on Spotify
▶️ Track on #Spotify:
Suite for Strings, Op. 1a: V. ... -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #EssentialClassics
Ethel Smyth, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra & Odaline de la Martínez:
🎵 Symphonic Serenade (Finale)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #BBCPhilharmonicOrchestra #OdalinedelaMartínez -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #SundayMorning
Ethel Smyth, Cathrine Winnes & Swedish Wind Ensemble:
🎵 The Wreckers (Prelude to Act 2, 'On the Cliffs of Cornwall')
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #CathrineWinnes #SwedishWindEnsemble -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth, Joachim Griesheimer & Mannheim String Quartet:
🎵 String Quintet in E major Op.1 (5th mvt)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #JoachimGriesheimer #MannheimStringQuartet -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth, Juliette Pochin, Kantos Chamber Choir, Suffrage Sinfonia & Alice Farnham:
🎵 March Of The Women
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #JuliettePochin #KantosChamberChoir #SuffrageSinfonia #AliceFarnham -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #ClassicalLive
Ethel Smyth, Hamish Brown & Beth Taylor:
🎵 Three Moods of the Sea
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #HamishBrown #BethTaylor -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #EssentialClassics
Ethel Smyth, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra & Joshua Weilerstein:
🎵 Serenade in D Major
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #LausanneChamberOrchestra #JoshuaWeilerstein -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #EssentialClassics
Ethel Smyth, Lionel Handy & Jennifer Hughes:
🎵 Cello Sonata in C minor (1st mvt)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #LionelHandy #JenniferHughes -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #EssentialClassics
Ethel Smyth, Tasmin Little & John Lenehan:
🎵 Sonata in A minor Op.7 (4th mvt)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #TasminLittle #JohnLenehan -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth, BBC National Orchestra of Wales & Rumon Gamba:
🎵 The Boatswain's Mate (Overture)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #BBCNationalOrchestraofWales #RumonGamba -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth, Joshua Weilerstein & Lausanne Chamber Orchestra:
🎵 Suite for Strings (3rd mvt)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #JoshuaWeilerstein #LausanneChamberOrchestra -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth & Villiers Quartet:
🎵 String Quartet in E Minor (2nd mvt)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #VilliersQuartet -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra & Odaline de la Martínez:
🎵 Serenade in D (2nd mvt)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #BBCPhilharmonicOrchestra #OdalinedelaMartínez -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth, Tasmin Little & John Lenehan:
🎵 Sonata in A minor Op.7 (4th mvt)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #TasminLittle #JohnLenehan -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #InTune
Ethel Smyth, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra & Odaline de la Martínez:
🎵 Serenade in D (2nd mvt)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #BBCPhilharmonicOrchestra #OdalinedelaMartínez -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth & Liana Șerbescu:
🎵 Piano Piece in E major
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #LianaȘerbescu
▶️ Track on #Spotify:
Piano Piece in E Major -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast
Ethel Smyth, BBC Symphony Orchestra, John Andrews & BBC Singers:
🎵 Der Wald (1st mvt, Prologue)
#BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #BBCSymphonyOrchestra #JohnAndrews #BBCSingers -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #ClassicalMixtape Ethel Smyth & Liana Șerbescu: 🎵 Piano Piece in E major #BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #LianaȘerbescu ▶️ 🪄 Automagic 🔊 show 📻 playlist on Spotify ▶️ Track on #Spotify:
Piano Piece in E Major -
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #ThroughTheNight Ethel Smyth, Agata-Maria Raatz, Zora Slokar, Bern Chamber Orchestra & Graziella Contratto: 🎵 Concerto for violin and horn in A major #BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #AgataMariaRaatz #ZoraSlokar #BernChamberOrchestra #GraziellaContratto
-
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast Ethel Smyth & The Maier Quartet: 🎵 String Quartet in C minor: 3) Scherzo #BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #TheMaierQuartet
-
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast Ethel Smyth, Juliette Pochin, Kantos Chamber Choir, Suffrage Sinfonia & Alice Farnham: 🎵 March Of The Women #BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #JuliettePochin #KantosChamberChoir #SuffrageSinfonia #AliceFarnham
-
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast Ethel Smyth, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra & Odaline de la Martínez: 🎵 Serenade in D (2nd mvt) #BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #BBCPhilharmonicOrchestra #OdalinedelaMartínez
-
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #ThroughTheNight Ethel Smyth, Agata-Maria Raatz, Zora Slokar, Bern Chamber Orchestra & Graziella Contratto: 🎵 Concerto for violin and horn in A major #BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #AgataMariaRaatz #ZoraSlokar #BernChamberOrchestra #GraziellaContratto
-
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on BBC #Radio3's #Breakfast Ethel Smyth, Joachim Griesheimer & Mannheim String Quartet: 🎵 String Quintet in E major Op.1 (3rd mvt) #BBCRadio3 #EthelSmyth #JoachimGriesheimer #MannheimStringQuartet
-
Ein wenig Menschlichkeit in rauer See – „The Wreckers“ am Landestheater Detmold
Detlef ObensEthel Smyths Oper „The Wreckers“ (dt. „Strandrecht“), uraufgeführt 1906, ist das bekannteste Werk der britischen Komponistin. In den letzten Jahren gab es vereinzelte Inszenierungen dieser Oper auf deutschen Bühnen zu erleben, aber insgesamt ist „The Wreckers“ immer noch ein relativ unbekanntes und selten gespieltes Werk. Zu Unrecht – wie die gestrige Premiere dieses Musikdramas am Landestheater Detmold unter Beweis stellt. Die Geschichte über die skrupellosen Strandräuber, die ihre Verbrechen an den schiffsbrüchigen Menschen als gar noch „gottgegeben“ preisen und die am Ende die beiden Menschen aus ihrer Gemeinschaft hinrichten, die all das nicht mehr ertragen und sich ihre Menschlichkeit erhalten wollen, ist der Stoff für eine große Oper. Die Detmolder Intendantin Kirsten Uttendorf inszeniert diese Oper sehr emotional und gefühlsbetont und Per-Otto Johansson am Pult des Symphonischen Orchester Detmold lässt die Dramatik dieser Partitur auf beeindruckende Weise spürbar werden. Ein starker Opernabend in Detmold! Der Jubel des Premierenpublikums war groß und langanhaltend. (Rezension der Premiere v. 06. März 2026) […]
https://opernmagazin.de/ein-wenig-menschlichkeit-in-rauer-see-the-wreckers-am-landestheater-detmold/
-
-
Leipzig, Chemnitz, Weimar: Frauen, die Geschichte schrieben
Es ist vor allem der Frauenbewegung zu verdanken, dass Smyths We…
#Leipzig #Deutschland #Deutsch #DE #Schlagzeilen #Headlines #Nachrichten #News #Europe #Europa #EU #EffiBriest #ElsaAsenijeff #Emanzipation #EthelSmyth #Frau #Frauen #Frauenrechte #GabrieleReuter #Germany #Gleichberechtigung #HenrietteGoldschmidt #kulturnachrichten #leipzig #MarthaSchrag #MDR #Sachsen #Sachsen-Anhalt #Thüringen #Welt
https://www.europesays.com/de/595458/ -
https://www.europesays.com/de/595458/ Leipzig, Chemnitz, Weimar: Frauen, die Geschichte schrieben #DE #Deutschland #EffiBriest #ElsaAsenijeff #Emanzipation #EthelSmyth #Frau #Frauen #Frauenrechte #GabrieleReuter #Germany #Gleichberechtigung #HenrietteGoldschmidt #kulturnachrichten #leipzig #MarthaSchrag #MDR #Nachrichten #Sachsen #SachsenAnhalt #Thüringen #Welt
-
Ethel Smyth (Londres, 22 de Abril de 1858 – Woking, 8 de Maio de 1944), compositora e sufragista britânica.
🎶 Mass in D (Missa em ré) 🎶
I. Kyrie - 00:00
II. Credo - 9:32
III. Sanctus - 25:42
IV. Benedictus - 30:25
V. Agnus Dei - 36:07
VI. Gloria - 44:49 -
Für die Klassik-Fans unter euch empfehle ich "ARD Oper Ethel Smyth: "The Wreckers" SWR"
[...]Aber die Komponistin war eine engagierte Frauenrechtlerin, dem weiblichen Geschlecht mehr zugeneigt als den Männern und sehr selbstbewusst. Das hat dann schon mal gereicht, ihr Meisterwerk über das Strandrecht, eine bigott-verlogene Dorfgemeinschaft und eine sündige Liebe für Jahrzehnte verschwinden zu lassen. [...]
https://www.ardaudiothek.de/episode/ard-oper/ard-oper-ethel-smyth-the-wreckers-swr/ard/14123779/
-
Watch "Leah Broad - 'Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World' - Live from Wigmore Hall" on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/live/AlH-cLT7es0?si=FOOECzQjYKg5MVbF
#ClassicalMusic
#WomenComposers
@womencomposers
@evameitner
#EthelSmyth
#RebeccaClarke
#DorothyHowell
#DoreenCarwithen
#LeahBrod -
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers#EthelSmyth 1858-1944
'The Wreckers' (Overture) (1906)
#RoyalScottishNationalOrchestr
#AlexanderGibson#classicalmusic #womencomposers #musik
#music #musique #musica #EthelSmyth -
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers#EthelSmyth 1858-1944
#Concerto in A major for violin, horn and orchestra (1926)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Elegy (In Memoriam). Adagio
III. Finale. Allegro#SophieLangdon #Violin
#RichardWatkins #Horn#BBCPhilharmonic
#OdalineDeLaMartinez.#classicalmusic #womencomposers #musik
#music #musique #musica #EthelSmyth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as_BybUv1ck -
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers#EthelSmyth 1858-1944
#Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra (1927)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Elegy
III. Finale#RadioPhilharmonieHannoverDesNDR
#musik #music #musique #musica #classicalmusic
#romanticmusic #ESmyth -
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers#EthelSmyth 1858-1944
#StringQuartet in E minor (1902 rev. 1912)
I. Allegretto lirico
II. Allegro molto leggiero
III. Andante
IV. Allegro energico#musik #music #musique #musica #classicalmusic
#romanticmusic #ESmyth -
Empfehlenswerter F.A.Z. Beitrag: Die Suffragette am Tisch des Kaisers
https://m.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/rezensionen/sachbuch/ethel-smyths-buch-paukenschlaege-aus-dem-paradies-19236985.html?GEPC=s9
#ClassicalMusic
#EthelSmyth
@evameitner -
@classicalmusic Next week Saturday at 8 pm the final concert of the "Komponistinnen. Musikfest 2023" in #tubingen will take place in the Stiftskirche. It will be a great performance and I am very much looking forward to #singing in the #choir.
I have a promotional code that can be used to buy tickets cheaper. If anyone is interested, please drop me a personal message.https://www.tuebingen.de/komponistinnen/37883.html#/39632
#classicalmusic #womencomposers #luiseadolphalebeau #MariVihmand #EthelSmyth
-
Ethel Smyth: Der Wald review – an operatic pioneer finally gets her just desserts
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/sep/14/ethel-smyth-der-wald-review-an-operatic-pioneer-finally-gets-her-just-desserts?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers
@evameitner
@gitarra
#WomenComposers
#ClassicalMusic
#EthelSmythPlaylist by AppleMusic and Spotify provided
-
@classicalmusic At the beginning of October, the festival of female composers will take place in #tubingen, Germany. It is dedicated to the music as well as the life and creative circumstances of female composers in the 19th century, namely #JosephineLang, #emiliemayer #luiseadolphalebeau and #EthelSmyth.
There will be concerts, of course, but also lectures, films, an exhibition, a guided tour of the city and much more.
#classicalmusic #FemaleComposers -
-
"British Women Composers" by Clare Howick, Sophia Rahman https://songwhip.com/clarehowick/british-women-composers
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers
@gitarra
@evameitner
@ethelsmyth
@sarahfritzwritr
@britishcomposers
#Poldowski
#PhyllisTate
#EthelBarns
#ElizabethMaconchy
#EthelSmyth
#ClareHowick
#SophiaRahman -
"The Wreckers: Overture" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/Ic1g9HGnlKc
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers @ethelsmyth
@evameitner
@sarahfritzwritr
#EthelSmyth -
"Ethel Smyth – String Quintet in E major" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/PwNaS5H-F6U
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers
@ethelsmyth
@sarahfritzwritr
#StringQuintet
#EthelSmyth -
"Ethel Smyth – Moods of the Sea" on YouTube
https://youtu.be/E6_qBChvOaU
@classicalmusic
@womencomposers
@ethelsmyth
@sarahfritzwritr
#EthelSmyth -
Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World by Leah Broad review – off-key hymn to pioneers
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/05/quartet-how-four-women-changed-the-musical-world-by-leah-broad-review-off-key-hymn-to-pioneers?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
@ethelsmyth
@womencomposers
@classicalmusic
#ClassicalMusic
#EthelSmyth
#RebeccaClarke
#DorothyHowell
#DoreenCarwithen
#LeahBrod
#OliverSoden -
Hi everyone! I'm a musicologist and pianist in the Southeastern US. I research the life and music of #EthelSmyth and other #WomenComposers, and when I'm not doing that I play in a #NewMusic ensemble. Hoping to find other #musicology and #performance folks!
#introductions
#academia
#AcademicChatter
#ContemporaryClassical
#19thCentury
#opera
#ChamberMusic
#ClassicalMusic
#professor
#feminism -
Wow, look who's here: @Dr_Amy_Zigler !! 🤩✨️ A very warm welcome - so great that you joined Mastodon! 💐🎉 For everyone who doesn't know her: She's a fantastic Ethel Smyth expert and we had an Online Talk about female composer Ethel Smyth recently:
https://invidious.sethforprivacy.com/watch?v=Vt4OPQjh8lY@womencomposer @classicalmusic
#femalecomposers #ethelsmyth #Smyth -
@classicalmusic @britishcomposers @womencomposers
3 pieces by British female composers #britishcomposers #womencomposers to whet your appetite
#gracewilliams "Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes"
#ethelsmyth "Overture to the Wreckers"
#imogenholst "The fall of the leaf for solo cello"
-
Es war mir eine große Ehre, gestern die Laudatio für Ethel Smyth halten zu dürfen!
Ich möchte mich bei allen bedanken, die die Einweihung dieser Gedenktafel möglich gemacht haben: Der Stadt Leipzig, Frau Kulturbürgermeisterin Dr. Skadi Jennicke, dem Zonta Club Leipzig für die Initiative, den Spender:innen, der Gestalterin der Tafel Ina Henkel Graneist, Brunhild Fischer (Flöte) für die musikalische Umrahmung und allen, die extra gekommen sind, um Ethel Smyth und ihr Werk zu würdigen. Es ist dringend an der Zeit, dass ihre Kompositionen Bestandteil des Standardrepertoires werden. Möge diese Gedenktafel zur Bewahrung ihres Andenkens und vor allem zur Aufführung ihrer Werke beitragen!
Fotos (c) Kulturamt der Stadt Leipzig
#ethelsmyth #leipzig -
Repost MDR Klassik
Herzlichen Dank für den tollen Beitrag über die Einweihung der Gedenktafel für Ethel Smyth heute in Leipzig!
#ethelsmyth #leipzig -
😍 Nur noch einmal schlafen!
#ethelsmyth #leipzig -
Repost Zonta Club Leipzig Elster - große Vorfreude!
"🎉EINLADUNG🎉 Die Einweihung unserer Gedenktafel für Ethel Smyth findet am 28.07.2022 um 11.00 Uhr in der Salomonstraße 19 in Leipzig statt."
#ethelsmyth #femalecomposer #Komponistin -
The Hague String Trio releases CD Celebrating Women!
On their CD Celebrating Women! The Hague String Trio present world premiere recordings by four female composers. – At once also the only works in their repertoire by members of their own sex. Perhaps they want to hitch a ride on the discussion about the still underexposed position of female composers that has flared up again after #MeToo. A theme which over the past decades was addressed again and again by a wide range of musicologists, music journalists and historians.
As one of them, I have some trouble with the title Celebrating Women! – By explicitly mentioning the gender of the composers, you unintentionally confirm the ingrained prejudice that there is such a thing as ‘female’ music. But ok, I’ll forgive the three musicians, for most concert programmes and CD’ s are still filled with music by – mostly dead – white males. Any attention to their female counterparts is a bonus.
The CD opens with the String Trio that the Australian Miriam Hyde (1913-2005) composed in 1932. With its melodious, elegant themes, this will certainly appeal to a large audience. The Suite for violin, viola and cello by Emmy Frensel-Wegener (1901-1971) from 1925 is more adventurous. Although composed seven years earlier, it sounds more modern than Hyde’s Trio. The Suite is a fresh and sparkling piece full of catchy rhythms and compelling melodies, performed with contagious zest by The Hague String Trio.
Pièce de résistance is the String Trio in D major op.6 by Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), written in 1884 by this self-willed composer and suffragette. Smyth was a friend of such greats as Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, and the British Queen Victoria was a great admirer of her music. In 1922, Smyth was the first female composer to receive the title Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire. In 1903, the Metropolitan Opera staged her opera Der Wald; it would not be until 2016 that the New York house programmed another opera by a woman, L’amour de loin by Kaija Saariaho.
Dame Ethel Smyth, drawn by John Singer Sargent (National Portrait Gallery London)Like all of Smyth’s music, this ambitious, four-movement trio is particularly lively and varied. In an abundance of artfully woven melodic lines, she displays her perfect mastery of the string trio medium. In the process, Smyth incorporates themes from various traditions. Thus in the first movement we hear references to ‘Glory, glory, Hallelujah’, while the main theme of the second is derived from the Scottish folk song The Crab. The subdued slow third movement is an arrangement of Bach’s chorale Vater Unser im Himmelreich; the robust dance rhythm in the finale links up with British folk music.
The CD closes with the Fugue in G minor by Irene Britton Smith (1907-1999), the least known of the four. This composer of Afro-American, Crow and Cherokee descent studied composition pretty much all her life, among others with the renowned Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Her Fugue, composed in 1938, is a fine example of contrapuntal composition, the theme of which is vaguely reminiscent of Bach’s Das musikalische Opfer.
The Hague String Trio performs all four compositions to the highest possible standard. Every note is crisp and pure, not one entry is missed – the alert way in which the three musicians respond to each other and their overwhelming enthusiasm for the music irrevocably drag one along. The recording technique is also excellent. Hyde, Frensel-Wegener, Smyth and Britton-Smith could not have wished for better ambassadors.
Let’s hope this CD is not a one-off for The Hague String Trio, but rather the upbeat to an ever expanding repertoire of neglected gems by women composers.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4LsUkhS7eK0H8a6MO6NQKS
Contemporary Classical is ranked 37 in the list of 70 best classical music blogs worldwide on Feedspot. A donation is welcome through PayPal (please use the friends option to avoid charges).
#EmmyFrenselWegener #EthelSmyth #IreneBrittonSmith #MeToo #MiriamHyde #TheHagueStringTrio
-
Between diapers & dishes – the (in)visibility of the female composer
Walkyrien (c) Emil Doepler, via Wikipedia Media
Amsterdam, 8 March 2018. No chance to miss today is women’s day. The media are brimming with articles about the unequal pay for women and their still limited representation in prestigious positions. – In politics, the business world, universities and the arts.
The most conservative is perhaps the classical music world, where the female composer still has to fend for her right to exist. Even in 2018 she still has to cram her creative work in between domestic tasks, it seems. – Will a male composer ever be asked how he combines his work ‘with the children’? Despite tiny steps in the right direction, his female colleague still balances between diapers & dishes.
Perotinus & Leoninus
My own history began in a village in Limburg. I was not allowed to join the local brass band – simply because I was a girl. Later I started my own pop group. Though I wrote all the songs, invariably in interviews my male band members were asked all the questions. During my entire studies in musicology only two ladies were mentioned. Hildegard von Bingen was treated extensively, but after that it remained silent. In my my final year one song by Clara Schumann was analyzed.
During concerts I heard music from Perotinus & Leoninus, Bach and Handel, Mozart and Beethoven, Stravinsky and Bartók. Only in the world of new music I was sparsely treated to works by Galina Ustvolskaya and Sofia Gubaidulina, or Kaija Saariaho and Unsuk Chin. When I started working at Radio 4, I made thematic programs on countless subjects. But the moment I dedicated a series to female composers, I was deprecatingly dubbed ‘Her of the Women’.
Smyth ‘influenced’ by unborn Britten
Undaunted I tried to get work by female composers performed, but I stumbled on a wall of unwillingness and bias. The most poignant was my experience with the opera The Wreckers by Ethel Smyth. Everyone I played a recording to was enthusiastic about the beautiful and powerful music. – Invariably followed by the comment that Smyth had been ‘strongly influenced’ by Peter Grimes of Benjamin Britten.
A hilarious argument: Britten wasn’t even born when Smyth composed her opera in 1906. Indeed, Peter Grimes did not appear until 1945, a year after her death. When I pointed this out, my interlocutors fell silent, baffled. But the penny did not drop and the opera remained unperformed. While a rediscovered second-class composition of a man is not seldom hailed ‘discovery of the century’.
Netherlands’ Men’s Days and Bosmans Prize
During the yearly Netherlands’ Music Days hardly any women’s compositions were performed, so I dubbed them the Netherlands’ Men’s Days; in 2010 the event died a silent death. Even the composition competition named after Henriëtte Bosmans was never won by a woman. After I had criticized this in a column, at least some female jurors were recruited. But it wasn’t until 2008, when an audience prize was established, that this finally went to a female composer. After 2011 also this competition ceased to exist.
When the Festival of Early Music Utrecht put Felix Mendelssohn in the context of his time, not one note from his sister Fanny was played. She was not only Felix’s source of inspiration and sounding board, but also a composer who was highly appreciated in her own time. Most probably she developed the ‘Song without Words’, which is invariably attributed to her brother. After yet another column of mine the all-male concept was somewhat released. Since then, sporadically music by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Barbara Strozzi, Hildegard of Bingen or Isabella Leonarda was programmed.
Modern music world forms an exception
A positive exception is formed by the circuit of modern music, such as the Thursday Evening Concerts of Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. The same goes for the Red Sofa series of De Doelen, the Oranjewoudfestival and Dag in de branding. In Gaudeamus Muziekweek, women’s work sounds regularly, although the competition itself is still dominated by men.
The coming edition of Classical Encounters in The Hague only has male works in store for us, even thought the programmer is a woman. Muziekgebouw Eindhoven features two ladies in its new season; the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra one; the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra none. In the upcoming Opera Forward Festival, only two female composers will be represented.
Bright spots
It is sad that even in the 21st century we have to fight for the music of women composers. Nevertheless, there have been some bright spots recently, thanks in part to the social media. Databases with female composers from all ages can be updated online and this information is shared quickly and easily. The #MeToo discussion also contributes to a greater awareness of the subordination of women.
In terms of policy, some steps have been made as well. Mayke Nas succeeded Willem Jeths as Composer Laureate in 2016. A year later, Kate Moore was the first woman ever to win the prestigious Matthijs Vermeulen Prize. The BBC initiated the project Celebrating Women Composers and the new February Festival gave voice to Fanny Mendelsohn and Clara Schumann. From season 2018-19 onwards, the Concertgebouw and NTRZaterdagMatinee will pay structural attention to composing ladies. Its counterpart AVROTROSVrijdagconcert also regularly features music by women composers.
Small successes that ‘Her of the Women’ will continue to fight for in the future.
Tonight Silbersee will perform music by Seung-Won Oh in Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, I will speak to her during the introduction at 7.15 pm.
Please support independent music jounalism. Any amount is welcome. Thanks!
#ClaraSchumann #EthelSmyth #FannyMendelssohn #GalinaUstvolskaya #HenriëtteBosmans #HildegardVonBingen #KaijaSaariaho #MeToo #PeterGrimes #SofiaGubaidulina #TheWreckers #UnsukChin #WomenSDay