Women’s History Month Featured Composers
Amy Beach
American composer and pianist.
Born in Henniker, New Hampshire on September 5, 1867.
Known for having extraordinary memory and virtuosity.
Most well known woman composer in the United States during her time.
Co-founder and first president of the Society of American Women Composers
Studied composition briefly with Junius W. Hill, but was largely self-taught.
She had the ability of producing large-scale works in a matter of days.
Major works include
Mass, Op. 5
Symphony Op. 32
Violin Sonata Op. 34
Piano Concerto Op. 45
Variations on Balkan Themes Op.60
Piano Quintet Op. 67
Click here to listen to her music.
Barbara Strozzi
Born in Venice, Italy in 1619.
One of the first women composers of non-religious vocal music to publish under her own name.
Important and prolific composer of Italian cantatas and arias.
Gained a reputation as a singer and was praised for her vocal ability.
Strozzi published eight collections of her music and has more music in print than many other well known composers of that period.
She published only one collection of sacred songs during her career.
The majority of her works were written for soprano, but published works for other voices as well.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Chiquinha Gonzaga
Brazilian composer, pianist, and conductor.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 17th, 1847.
She studied piano when she was a child and wrote her first work at 11 years old.
Famous for her polkas, waltzes, and tangos.
First woman to conduct a Brazilian orchestra.
Her operetta Forrobodó ran 1500 performances after the premiere.
Major works include
Atraente
Ó Abre Alas
Forrobodó
Jurití
She wrote music for 77 theatre plays and composed over 2,000 works across many genres.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Doris Akers
American gospel composer and vocalist.
Born in Brookfield, Missouri on May 21st, 1923.
Started playing piano at age 6 and wrote her first piece, "Keep the Fires Burning in Me," when she was 10.
Performed with the Sally Martin Sisters and formed the gospel group, The Doris Akers Singers.
Founded the Sky Pilot Choir with gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson.
Major works include:
Sweet, Sweet Spirit
Sweet Jesus
I Cannot Fail the Lord
Honored by the Smithsonian Institute which recognized her songs as national treasures.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
French composer, harpsichordist, and organist.
Baptized in Paris, France on March 17, 1665.
First woman to compose an opera in France.
Debuted as a singer and harpsichordist in the court of King Louis XIV (the “Sun King”).
Renowned performer throughout Paris since her early childhood.
Known for her vocal music, including operas and cantatas (secular and sacred), harpsichord works, and sonatas.
Major works include:
Céphale et Procris
Pièces de Clavessin
Parnasse François
Trio Sonata in G Minor
Violin Sonata No. 1
Dedicated most of her works to the king, showing her devotion to him throughout her career.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Florence Price
American composer during the late romantic period.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on April 9, 1887.
She was the first African American woman to become widely recognized as a symphonic composer.
She wrote over 300 works during her lifetime.
Studied composition and received an Artist's Diploma in organ, and a piano teacher's diploma.
Major works include:
Symphony No. 1 in E
Suite of Negro Dances
Piano Concerto in D
Negro Folksongs in Counterpoint for String Quartet
Piano Sonata in E
Her art songs were sung by renowned singers of her day including Marian Anderson and Etta Moten.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC
Germaine Tailleferre
Born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val de Marne, France.
Attended the Paris Conservatoire for piano at just 12 years old, and won major prizes for her abilities.
She was the only female member of Les Six, a notable group of French composers during the twentieth century.
Studied composition with Charles Koechlin and Maurice Ravel.
Major works include
Piano Concerto No. 1
Harp Concertino
Violin Concerto
Le marchand d’oiseaux
La nouvelle Cythère
Composed scores for thirty-eight films during her career.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC
Hildegard von Bingen
Composer in the High Middle Ages.
Born around 1098 in the Holy Roman Empire.
Also known to be a mystic, visionary, and a medical writer and practitioner.
She has 70 surviving compositions, one of the largest collections among medieval composers.
She is a saint and was named Doctor of the Church in 2012.
Much of her music was inspired from her visions of God.
Major works include:
Ordo Virtutum
The cycle Symphonia armoniae celestium revelationum
Her music is monophonic, but her soaring melody lines push the limits of Gregorian Chant.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC
Isabella Leonarda
Italian composer from Novara, Italy.
Member of the Novarese family, a family of highly regarded society members.
Entered Collegio di Sant'Orsola at age 16.
She held multiple positions of authority while at her convent such as Madre, Superiora, Madre Vicaria, and Consigliera.
Her Sonata da Chiesa was the first published instrumental sonata by a woman.
Major works include:
Sonata da Chiesa, Op. 16
Sonata No. 12
Her published compositions span over 60 years with almost 200 works.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC
Julia Perry
American composer and teacher.
Born in Lexington, Kentucky on March 25, 1924.
Studied at Akron University and Westminster Choir College, also took a class at The Juilliard School.
Studied composition with Luigi Dallapiccola at the Berkshire Music Center and in Florence, and Nadia Boulanger in France.
Won the Boulanger Grand Prize for her Viola Sonata.
Major works include:
Study for Orchestra
Prelude for Piano
Homunculus C.F.
A Suite Symphony
Bicentennial Reflections
Song of Our Savior
Stabat mater
Her music is influenced by spirituals, blues, rock and roll, rhythm, and other contemporary genres.
Click here to listen to her music
Kay Swift
American composer, lyricist, author, and pianist.
Born in New York City on April 19, 1897.
Became prolific for her songwriting in the 1920s and wrote for theatrical productions.
She was a close friend of George Gershwin and finished writing some of his songs after his death.
Studied piano and composition at The Juilliard School and New England Conservatory.
Major works include:
Fine and Dandy
Alma Mater
Can’t we be friends?
Reaching for the Brass Ring
Theme and Variations for cello and piano
She was commissioned for special occasions including the 50th anniversary of the Campfire Girls in 1960, and for the Century 21 Exposition, Seattle in 1962.
click here to listen to her music
Lili Boulanger
Born in Paris, France on August 21, 1893.
French composer who, along with her sister Nadia, is the namesake for Boulanger Initiative.
Early in her childhood, she got sick with bronchial pneumonia causing her to have a weak immune system. Although she died young, she left a legacy as a composer and performer.
Along with her sister Nadia, Lili attended classes at the Paris Conservatoire before the age of five.
She was the first woman to win the Prix de Rome prize for music with her work Faust et Hélène.
Major works include
Faust et Hélène
Vieille Prière Bouddhique
D'un matin de printemps
Two pieces for Violin and Piano
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Mélanie Bonis
French late-Romantic composer.
Born in Paris, France on January 21st, 1858.
Taught herself piano despite a lack of support from her parents.
Studied at the Paris Conservatoire.
Known to go by the name "Mel Bonis" in an effort to appear more androgynous.
Wrote more than 300 works.
Major works include
Madrigal for voice and piano, Op. 53
Femmes de légende (Legendary Women)
L'Oiseau bleu Op. 74
Trois Femmes de légende: Salome
Continued to write music despite being in a forced marriage with a man who did not like music.
Nora Holt
American composer, singer, critic, and socialite.
Born in Brookfield, Missouri on May 21st, 1923.
Started taking piano lessons when she was 4 and played the organ in her father’s church in Kansas City.
Went to Chicago Musical College (1918) and is said to be the first African-American person to earn a master’s degree in music composition in the United States.
Studied with Nadia Boulanger in France then taught at public schools in Los Angeles.
Major works include:
The Sandman
Negro Dances
Founded the magazine, Music and Poetry, in the 1920s and was considered one of the most influential figures of the Harlem Renaissance.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Olga de Blanck
Cuban pianist, guitarist and composer.
Born in Havana, Cuba on March 11th, 1916.
She studied piano, solfeggio and music theory at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música, which her father founded in 1885.
In 1955, she became the director of Conservatorio Nacional de Música.
She was the founder of the Cuban musical kindergarten.
She wrote music for a large variety of ensembles, including musicals, choral music, a ballet score, and classical guitar.
Major works include
Canciones: setenta y tres canciones
7 Canciones Cubanas
Plegaria Así dijo Santa Rosa Filipa
Canciones de Misifú
Pauline Viardot
French mezzo-soprano, composer, and teacher of Spanish descent.
Born in Paris, France on July 18, 1821.
Known for having a wide vocal range, with the ability to sing soprano and contralto roles.
Studied piano with Franz Liszt and composition with Anton Reicha.
Spoke several languages fluently, including Spanish, French, English, Italian, German, and Russian.
Wrote over 100 songs, as well as other vocal works.
Major works include:
Le dernier sorcier, operetta (1869)
Cendrillon, opera (1904)
Canti popolari toscani, song collection (1880)
Hai luli, song (1880)
Madrid, song (1884)
She inspired many composers, including Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Liszt, Wagner, and Schumann.
Click here to listen to her music.
Qu Xixian
Chinese composer and pianist born in Shanghai, China on September 23, 1919.
She studied piano and composition at the Shanghai Academy, then went on to teach at the Beipin Arts School and compose professionally.
Composed music that reflected the political climate of the time, protesting the government's plan to control social messages in music.
She was known for writing vocal music, which she made unique by using different voice combinations and incorporating folk songs.
Major works include
Pastoral (1954)
Listening to Mother Talking of the Past (1957)
The Rickshaw Boy (1982)
Releasing Pigeons at the Great Wall (1992)
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Roberta Martin
American composer, gospel singer, and pianist who lived in the twentieth century.
Born in Arizona, United States, on February 12, 1907.
Established and became accompanist for the ensemble the Roberta Martin Singers.
She was known for writing gospel songs and she published her music through her own company, the Roberta Martin School of Music.
She sang in Thomas A. Dorsey's gospel choir at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Chicago and later became its pianist.
Major works include
Try Jesus, he satisfies
God is still on the throne
Let it be
Just Jesus and me
Martin's accompaniment style is known for its rhythmic middle register chords accentuated in the bass.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté
Russian-born Canadian composer, virtuoso pianist and violinist.
Studied at the Conservatoire de Paris from 1908–1913, where her teachers included Guillaume Rémy for violin, S. Chenée for piano, and Vincent d'Indy for composition.
She made her debut in 1910, and her first composition, an Etude de Concert, was published in Paris that year.
She was largely self-taught and wrote over 175 works.
Major works include
Procession funèbre
Triple Concerto for trumpet, clarinet and bassoon
Symphony-Concerto for piano and orchestra
10 Caprices for solo violin
She developed a piano teaching method, the ‘E-gré Piano Technique’, whose basis is the use of rotary movement.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Trude Rittmann
German-born American composer, arranger, teacher, and pianist who lived during the twentieth century.
Born in Mannheim, Germany on September 24, 1908.
She went to the Conservatory in Cologne and became well known as an avant-garde composer before moving to New York.
She composed for ballets, television, and film, but spent most of her career arranging for Broadway.
Worked with Rodgers and Hammerstein on Carousel, The King and I, South Pacific, and The Sound of Music for which she devised the vocal sequence Do-Re-Mi.
She also worked on Brigadoon, Paint Your Wagon, My Fair Lady, Camelot, and Gigi, among others.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Undine Smith Moore
American composer and professor of music.
Born in Jarrat, Virginia on August 25th, 1904.
Originally started as a classical pianist but later focused on vocal music.
Went to Fisk University to study piano and organ and Columbia University to get her Master of Arts in Teaching.
Co-founded and directed the Black Music Center at Virginia State to bring black lecturers, composers, performers, and musical groups to campus.
Known as the "Dean of Black Women Composers."
Major works include:
Scenes from the Life of a Martyr
Afro-American Suite, for flute, cello & piano
Sir Olaf and the Erl King's Daughter
She wrote over 100 pieces of various different styles
Her cantata, "Scenes From the Life of a Martyr," was Pulitzer-nominated and written to honor Martin Luther King Jr.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Vítězslava Kaprálová
Czech composer and conductor of 20th-century classical music.
Born in Brno, Austro-Hungarian Empire on January 15th, 1915.
Started composing at 9 years old.
Conducted the Czech Philharmonic in 1937, and then the BBC Orchestra a year later.
Wrote as many compositions as her father, despite only being active for 9 years.
Studied at the Brno Conservatory and the Prague Conservatory
Major works include
Military Sinfonietta, op. 11 for large orchestra
Waving Farewell, op. 14 for voice and piano/orchestra
April Preludes, op. 13 for piano
Two Compositions for Violin and Piano, op. 3
Song cycle Two Songs, op. 4
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Wanda Landowska
Polish harpsichordist and pianist.
Her performances, teaching, writings and her recordings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century.
She was the first person to record Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations on the harpsichord in 1933.
She recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company/RCA Victor and the Gramophone Company.
Her 1942 performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations at New York's Town Hall was the first occasion in the 20th century when the piece was played on the harpsichord, the instrument for which it had been written.
Major works include
A serenade for strings
"Hebrew Poem" for orchestra
Xin Huguang
Chinese composer.
Born in Shanghai, China on October 16th, 1933.
Enrolled in the Conservatory of the Central Music at the University in Beijing.
She was introduced to Mongolian folk music through a friend and used this to influence her composing.
The premiere of her piece, "Ga Da Mei Lin," caused controversy because no one wanted to credit a 23-year-old woman composer.
Major works include:
Ga Da Mei Lin
Fantasia of the Red Guards on the Hong Lake
Ka Ta Mei Ling
She continued composing for the rest of her life and her son later became a composer as well.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO HER MUSIC.
Yardena Alotin
Israeli composer, pianist, and teacher.
Born in Tel-Aviv, Israel on October 19, 1930.
Known for combining elements from Western, Eastern, and Jewish musical traditions.
Studied at the Tel-Aviv Music Teachers’ College and the Israeli Academy of Music; later served as composer-in-residence at the Bar-Ilan University.
As a teacher, she also wrote youth and educational music.
Her music is often structured in Baroque or Classical forms.
Major works include:
Yefeh nof for solo flute
Passacaglia on a Bukharian Theme for solo piano
Al Golah D’vuyah for mezzo-soprano and orchestra
Sonata for violin and piano
Kina fuga for string trio
Shir chag for SATB choir
Sonata for solo cello
Click here to listen to her music.
Zitkála-Šá
Native American composer and violinist
Born in the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, United States on February 22, 1876.
She was a member of the Yankton Dakota Sioux in South Dakota.
She studied violin at the New England Conservatory of Music, and briefly taught music and speech at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
Major music compositions include:
The Sun Dance
Major literary works include:
Old Indian Legends
American Indian Stories
She was a strong advocate for Native American rights, and left a legacy as a musician, writer and, activist who fought for Native American suffrage.