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.

To contribute as a guest writer please email Maria@music-workshop.co.uk

Posts tagged “WOMEN IN MUSIC”

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Chaminade Flute Concertino

Posted on 13th April 2024 at 09:53

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.

Clara Schumann – prodigy, performer, proponent and pioneer

Posted on 14th August 2019 at 12:23

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.

Women’s Hour Music Power List 2018

Posted on 1st October 2018 at 10:00

Friday 28th September was BBC Music Day. Women’s Hour celebrated by revealing their list of the 40 most influential women in music.

Three out of the top five women are top selling artists, with Adele at #4, Taylor Swift at #2 and Beyonce at #1, but the list also celebrates the contributions of women who work behind the scenes.

Women Composers – A Reflection on Cultural Expectation

Posted on 15th May 2018 at 15:00

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.