Women in Music
Grand Piano has made a significant contribution to the honouring of a number of remarkable women who have left their mark on music history. Our catalogue has a growing segment of titles featuring music by women composers.
Music played a central part in the Paris salons hosted by Anne-Louise Brillon De Jouy (1744–1824), who was both an accomplished keyboard player and admired composer of some 90 chamber works. The fact that they remained unpublished reflects not the quality of her music but the social norms of her time. Nicolas Horvath’s premiere recording of her complete music for solo piano was praised by Utmisol for its “… sincere commitment … delicate touch … elegance … subtle phrasing and … crystalline sound.”
Pianist/composer Hélène de Montgeroult (1764–1836) made a significant contribution to the rich French piano repertoire of the late Classic and early Romantic periods with her nine sonatas. “Impeccable in its clarity and brilliance” is how Classica judged Nicolas Horvath’s first complete recording of these works.
Polish pianist/composer Maria Szymanowska (1789–1831) was greatly admired by her contemporaries, who included Beethoven, Cherubini, Field and Tomášek. Her collections of dances, written for salons, are pleasing and light, yet always inventive. Watch pianist Alexander Kostritsa play Szymanowska’s Polonaise in C major, in a performance described as ‘elegant, charming, energetic, and shimmering with delicate fingerwork’ by Fanfare.
One of Norway’s most respected composer-pianists, Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847–1907) studied with both Hans von Bülow and Franz Liszt, and was hailed by George Bernard Shaw as one of the 19th century’s greatest virtuoso pianists. Fellow Norwegian pianist Sara Aimée Smiseth describes her album of Grøndahl’s miniatures as “wonderfully poetic, virtuoso, and colourful works.”
The Széchényi dynasty stood at the heart of Hungary’s political and musical life in the 19th and 20th centuries and featured several female composers: Franciska (Hungary’s first female composer), Félicie and Gisa composed several pieces for the piano, which have been recorded by award-winning pianists István Kassai and György Lázár.
The Venezuelan pianist Teresa Carreño (1853–1917) was one of the most virtuosic artists of her age. A child prodigy, she won the admiration of Gottschalk and Anton Rubinstein, and gave sold-out concerts throughout America, Europe and Australasia. ‘German pianist Alexandra Oehler plays these miniatures with dedication and an excellent technique. She always finds a good balance between expressiveness, virtuosity and restraint, so that at the end the motto is: Prima la musica!’ (Supersonic, Pizzicato)
As the only female member of the French group of composers known as Les Six, Germaine Tailleferre (1892–1983) produced original works that combine an essential Classicism with distinctly 20th-century twists. Nicolas Horvath’s 3-album survey of her piano music was greeted by The Guardian as an “invaluable project.”
Despite her tragically brief life, Vítezslava Kaprálová (1915–1940) is now considered one of the most important female Czech composers of the 20th century, her prolific output abundant with fresh and bold ideas, passion, tenderness and youthful energy. Giorgio Koukl’s recording of her piano works received a Diapason d’Or as well as a 5-star rating from Ritmo: ‘[Kapralova’s] music moves between neoclassicism and modernism, characteristic of the interwar period, always with an original freshness … Giorgio Koukl presents these pieces with his usual effectiveness.’
The Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz’s (1909–1969) music has recently enjoyed a renaissance in both live performances and recordings. In her collection of 20th-century music by Polish composers, the young award-winning pianist Anna Szalucka presents the world premiere recording of Bacewicz’s Second Sonata: ‘…with Grazyna Bacewicz’s Piano Sonata No. 2 there’s more of a Polish feel, and a more modernist one, the music becoming more intense, less cultivated and more dramatic. Impressive playing and an interesting album as well, nicely pitched between easy on the ear and difficult.’ (Review Corner)
Duncan Honeybourne’s programme of British piano miniatures features works by Evangeline Livens (1898–1983) (Shadows) and Constance Warren (1905–1984) (Idyll in G-flat major). The WholeNote commented: ‘There is a remarkable degree of originality throughout all these works that makes this disc an engaging listen from start to finish.’
The Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya (1919–2006) is well-known as a pupil of Shostakovich, but her compositions are unique. Elisabeta Blumina’s recording of Ustvolskaya’s Concerto for Piano, Strings and Timpani with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra under Thomas Sanderling was well received by American Record Guide: ‘…listeners familiar with her music may be surprised by its more tonal leanings but will not be surprised by the complex and paradoxical network of musical gestures.’
Coming to the present day, Tanya Ekanayaka (b. 1977) is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning Sri Lankan-British composer-pianist. Although she trained as a pianist, her compositional skills are purely intuitive. She has three albums under Grand Piano’s Overtone imprint: Reinventions (Sri Lankan melodies suffused with classical styles); Twelve Piano Prisms (miniatures tailored to notes of the chromatic scale); and The Planets and Humanity, comprising reflections on the solar system’s eight planets and Earth’s seven continents, described by Fanfare as “musical expressions for moods that cannot be put into words and which reach back before the dawn of history. Warmly recommended.”
Anyone who is unsure where to start with our collection of music by women composers might consider the single-album Pioneers programme that contains some twenty works from the pens of more than a dozen composers, representing a period of more than two centuries. Performed by Hiroko Ishimoto, this album is “…a valuable milestone that reminds us that musical creation is not a field reserved for men.” (Crescendo)
Alternatively, and finally, a comprehensive view can be conveniently gained from Three Centuries of Female Composers, a 10-CD boxed set of piano works that is “…remarkable … so rich and so symbolic … eloquent and exciting.” (Crescendo)
Grand Piano has gained a reputation for producing high quality recordings of rare keyboard gems. Dedicated to the exploration of undiscovered piano repertoire, the label specialises in complete cycles of piano works by many lesser-known composers, whose output might otherwise have remained unknown and unrecorded.
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