Did you know there were female classical music composers?

Question

I had no clue!!!

Which is why a feminist classical music fan wrote this article:

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3196

"Test yourself. How many of these 19th century female composers ring any bells with you?

"Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Louise Farrenc, Augusta Holmes, Emilie Mayer, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel and Alphonsa Le Beau."

Are you familiar with this? Where could I hear recordings of their music, if you are?

I'm not a fan, but I'm married to one who will flip.

Answer 1

Clara Schumann, I would say, is the most famous of the bunch. Much of her music is published.
(There's also a great story because Brahms was a good friend of the Schumanns; it's always been rumored that Brahms had an affair with Clara and after Robert went away crazy Clara and Brahms got together.)
http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2001/02/20010214_b_main.asp

Here's another list...although I think they're stretching the definition of "composer" here:
http://www.answers.com/topic/list-of-female-composers

(One famous woman is Hildegard von Bingen.. she was a famous midievel composer, which was quite rare)
http://www.answers.com/topic/hildegard-von-bingen

As far as getting their music, most places that has a good collection of classical will have these women's music (especially Schumann, Mendelssohn, Beach, and Hildegard). You can also go to http://www.allmusic.com and do a classical composer search, which should give you links to recordings of their music. Like this one for Clara:
http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=&sql=41:7955


Glad you found this. Good luck!

Answer 2

Rachel Portman was one, she was born in 1960, and attended Worcester Collage at Oxford, England, she was the first female to win an academy award for Emma in 1996, and was nominated for the Cider House and Chocolat in 2000. She also did the music for Mona Lisa's Smile, The Emperor's New Clothes, and Infamous in 2006.
Debbie Wiseman, born in 1963 did film and TV, her TV credits were, Toms Midnight Garden, Shrinks, Inspector Lynley Mysteries. Her films included , Female Perversions, Tom and Viv. She studied piano and composition at Guildhall School of music and drama.
Here are some other names:
Yoko Kanno
Deborah Lurie
Shirley Walker
Vivian Kubrick
Just to name a few more, my books on female composers list a lot more, but it would take an hour to list them all, there's a lot more women composers than most people think, some are quite shocked when they see how many there really are. I hope this helped some.
Additional information: I knew that the name Amy Beach (born in 1867-1944) rang a bell, so I looker it up in wikipedia the free encyclopedia, and sure enough there she was, type in women composers, and then go to selected discography and you'll see that they just did a rerecording of one of her pieces in 1995. So type in all the other names, their there, and maybe you'll find out where and if they are still recording their music.

Answer 3

there are a lot! Many more than you'd think. One of my favorites at the moment is Libby Larson. She's an American, and I've found her works published at Oxford University Press ( now there's a benchmark!).
Of the women you mention, only Alphonsa Le Beau is new to me.
Don't forget Alma Mahler! She wrote some very moving and poignant Lieder ( her husband, Gustav really got jealous. the story goes, she gave it up in order to keep him happy, not an easy task at any go)
I think there's a website for "wmen in music" but the exact title escapes me at the moment. Sorry.

Answer 4

Yes, I've heard of Fanny Mendelsohn Hensel, and one other, but I forgot her name. We learned about them in choir. We also had recordings of their music, but I don't know where the school got them. Maybe you could find something if you ran a web search, I don't really know though. Sorry, I wish I could help more. Good luck

Answer 5

I actually have a book of music from only female composers.
You can order the CD along with it, and listen to a recording of the songs that you play.

I'm sure you can find some pretty neat ones online, and then order them at your local music store to avoid shipping if need be.

Answer 6

Visit a music store specialising in recordings of classical music. The people working in such an establishment are usually very knowledgeable

Answer 7

Good point.I would love to add some to my collection,but I dont know where to find anyeither.I'll check back to see if anyone else knows.I would love to have some for my collection.Thanks for the often overlooked question.

Answer 8

Ummm, yes but I just found out recently(well actually three years ago). When I first found out about it I was like, wow that has to be awesome.

Answer 9

Visit this website: http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com
you can browse/search and listen 15 minutes for free.

Answer 10

Let me correct one spelling: My friend Libby's last name is Larsen, not Larson.