Can anyone think of a good tune written by a female composer?

Question

Please don't post all those names from Wikipedia. I know there were female composers. Problem is, I can't think of a good tune written by any of them--the kind of thing that would stick in the mind like a poem by Emily Bronte, Dickenson or Plath. Can anyone think of a memorable tune written by a female composer? If not, why not?

Answer 1

To add to what Glinzek and Mamianka have already said so well, it seems that women composing music has been viewed by others primarily as a hobby as opposed to a vocation for male composers. This is an unfortunate social statement rather than a critique of musical worth!

Clara Schumann had a rather respectable catalog of musical compositions but has always been overshadowed by her husband Robert. Some of the statements made by her and her husband are an interesting commentary on the attitudes toward and of women composers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clara_Schumann

Fortunately, there are some projects in place that are recording and making more music by the ladies available for all to hear.

Musician, composer, teacher.

Answer 2

Concertino for Flute, be Cecile Chaminade. ALL fine students flutists and professional play this piece - it is very often performed for advanced contest and competitions. I Should know - I am a professional flutist and tacher, and music competition judge (NYSSMA) in NY.

This is the first one off the top of my head - there are countless others in classical music, and once you add jazz and popular music, the list is endless. As equality for women created more opportunities and less constraints, more women were present in the arts. On the flip side - as you look a t professional orchestras in the US today, there are MANY who number MORE women than men, especially in the string sections. Do a head count a the next live concert you attend - when you see men in the strings they are more likely to be the older guys - and the women are morel likely to be the younger members. This is also true to some extent for the winds and brass.

Answer 3

Are you back again trying to stir things up? Haven't we been through this already?

What's memorable to one may be anethema to another. Can you think of a memorable tune written by Stravinsky? Can you whistle it?? How about Ligeti, or Stockhausen? These last two wrote some very memorable stuff, and I am willing to bet that you have heard them, and even enjoyed them -- but were they "memorable" tunes? Not hardly -- they weren't into writing "tunes". They were after writing music. So if your qualification for a great composer is one who could write a memorable tune, well, you're sweeping some really great composers under the rug, regardless of gender.

Listen to these links -- you never can tell, you might hear something memorable:

http://www.amazon.com/Mots-DAmour-Songs-Cecile-Chaminade/dp/B00005OM82

http://www.amazon.com/Clara-Schumann-Complete-Piano-Works/dp/B00005MAV1/ref=sr_1_5/103-9218300-2378261?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1185729478&sr=1-5

There's tons of stuff out there -- all that's required is that you get off your bum and go research it.

Answer 4

Harriette Beacher Stowe wrote "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

The tune of one of the three top-selling records of all time was written by a woman: "Happy Birthday to You!"

Both of those kind of "stick in the mind," don't they?

Answer 5

There is a pretty song by Princess Troubetskoy called "My Laddie" ...very catchy with a Scottish lilt...

(it seems to me there is another verse)

the words:
My laddie, my laddie
I love your very plaiddie*
I love your very bonnet
With the silver buckle on it
I love your collie, Harry
I love the kent* ye carry
But oh, your self, your very self,
I love ten thousand times as well

* a 'plaiddie' is a kilt
* a 'kent' is a briefcase



xxx
Lakshmi

Answer 6

Carole King - You've Got a Friend
Denise Rich