The Music Workshop Company Blog 

Each month the Music Workshop Company publishes two blogs. One blog, written by the MWC team addresses a key issue in Music Education or gives information about a particular genre or period of music. The other blog is written by a guest writer, highlighting good practice or key events in Music Education. We hope you enjoy reading the blogs. 
 
We embed multimedia content in many of our blog posts, if you have rejected cookies for this website, you may have white spaces where the multimedia content should be. This is due to a recent change of policy by YouTube, Spotify and other platforms. We are in the process of updating all our posts. If you come across white spaces in a blog post, you can open the link in another browser or private browser and approve cookies to access all the content. We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes. 
 
To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk 

Posts tagged “WOMEN COMPOSERS”

Cécile Chaminade was a prolific composer, publishing more than 400 pieces in her lifetime, as well as being a successful international touring solo pianist.  
 
Perhaps her most well known piece is her “Flute Concertino in D Major” Op. 107, which is listed in the Model Music Curriculum, however her vast repertoire is well worth exploring. She composed piano pieces (solo and duo), Piano Trios, songs, a ballet, an opera and concerto style works. 
 
In her many recital tours, Chaminade would feature programmes entirely made up of her own music. 
 
On the 80th anniversary of her death, we explore her life and most famous piece. Our activity this month explores composition within limitations. 
 
 
Image: Cécile Chaminade 
Originally from en:Wikipedia en:Image:Cecile chaminade.jpg 
Henrici, L. O. Representative Women. Kansas City, Mo.: The Crafters Publishers. 1913 
Original source: What We Hear in Music, Anne S. Faulkner, Victor Talking Machine Co., 1913. 
20th February 2021 marks the centenary of the birth of composer, conductor, teacher, oboist and pianist, Dr. Ruth Gipps MBE. 
 
Sadly, Gipps’ music is not very well known today, and this may be due to the challenges she faced as a female musician. It seems fitting that, on her centenary, we should take the opportunity to explore her music, and to celebrate her work. 
December 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth. 
 
The event seems to have split the Classical Music community.  
 
Some individuals and organisations see the occasion as an opportunity to celebrate Beethoven’s musical achievements.  
 
Others suggest that Beethoven’s music is popular enough and performances and recordings of it are already so plentiful that audiences should be exploring new repertoire and lesser known composers, and particularly work by underrepresented groups. 
Clara Wieck was born in Leipzig in September 1819. Although for decades she has been predominantly known as the ‘wife of Robert Schumann,’ her contribution to music as a performer, composer and inspiration was immense. 
 
As a woman in a male-dominated world, she gives us a fascinating glimpse into creative relationships, and perhaps a sense of what other women could and did achieve, despite the familiar list of traditionally male historic composers. 
 
She is to be celebrated for her own achievements, for the support she gave to Schumann and Brahms amongst others, and for the lost voices of many other women who were unable to achieve the same level of emancipation. Notably, while Clara’s work has often been marginalised by claims that her husband was the ‘real’ composer behind her work, she earned most of the money in the Schumann household, which was extremely unusual for the time, and her pieces were more popular than his. 
Composer: A person who writes music especially as a professional occupation 
 
The history of music is rich with composers, experimental, creative, daring, dashing, often with fascinating personal lives, and each still receiving regular concert billing. Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schumann, Ives, Britten – in 2015, music exam board Edexcel featured 63 such composers in its A-Level syllabus. 
 
In 2015, however, it was also pointed out via a change.org petition set up by student Jessy McCabe, that the syllabus was notably missing the inclusion of a single female composer. 

Archives

Designed and created by it'seeze