|
Back
08/18/2026
“She Composed”
Florence Price: 3 Little Negro Dances: 1. “Hoe Cake, Corn Cake”
María Maltilde Alea: Miniaturas Rítmicas cubanas: 13. “Paseo en la Alameda” [2]
Dorothee Eberhardt: Das Kaninchen – melancholisch [3]
Lilia Vázquez Kuntze: 20 Piezas infantiles: 1. “El chinito trabajador” [3]
Emilie Mayer: Sechs Klavierstücke für die Kinderwelt, opus 48, n° 1 [4]
Teresa Carreńo: Piano Pieces for Children: 5. “Valse” [2]
Isadora Zegers: La Pomone [5]
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre: Suite in D minor: “Menuet” [6]
Mary Wurm: Kleine Stücke im Jugendstil, opus 30: 2. “Marsch der Bleisoldaten” [3]
Elisabetta de Gambarini: Lesson and Songs, opus 2: 7. “Tambourin” [4]
Freda Swain: Chanson du petit berger [1]
Ethel Smyth: Invention [7, 11]
Anna Severine Lindeman: Pianostykker, opus 5: 3. “Aftenstemning” [7]
Germaine Tailleferre: Fleurs de France: 6. “Lavandin de Haute-Provence” [1]
Dora Pejacevic: Berceuse, opus 2 [8]
Louise Farrenc: Etude, opus 50, n° 2 [9]
Tatjana Petrowna Nikolajewa: Children’s Album, opus 19: 3: “Polka” [9]
Khadija Zeynalova: Präludium, n° 6 [8]
Amy Beach: Eskimos, opus 64: 2. “The Returning Hunter” [4]
María Enma Botet Dubois: Diablito Carnavelesco [1]
Débora Halász: Na biera da Estrada [6]
Marie Jaëll: Les Jours pluvieux: 4. “Petite pluie fine” [6]
Anna Bon di Venezia: Six Sonatas for Harpsichord, opus 2: Sonata n° 4 in C major: “Allegro” [3]
Vítezslava Kaprálová: Písnicka [9]
Marguerite Roesgen-Champion: Chant pastoral [2]
Teresa Catalán: Juguetes Rotos, n° 1 [6]
Katharina Nohl: Crystal [1]
Luise Adolpha Le Beau: Drei Klavierstücke, opus 1: 1. “Fantasiestück” [2]
Cecilia Arizti: Danza [2]
Modesta Bor: Juangriego [1]
Maria Szymanowska: Nocturne in B-Flat major [5]
Ruth Schonthal: Sweet Americana [1]
Julia Schwartz: 15 Vignetten: “Vignette XIV” [3]
Sofia Gubaidulina: Invention [6]
Aurora Román Casares: Tristeza india [8]
Josephine Lang: Danse infernale, opus 46: “Ein unheimlicher Tanz für das Piano-Forte” [5]
Anna Carolyn de Belleville-Oury: Devonshire Polka [10]
Lina Pesce: Chorôs brasileiros [6]
Karen Tanaka: Techno Etudes II, n° 2 [3]
Gisela Hernández: Cubanas para piano: 1. “Toque de clave” [2]
Alicia Terzian: Danza Criolla, opus 1 [7]
Clara Schumann: Präludium und Fuge, opus 16, n° 3 [4]
Marianna von Martinez: Sonata in A major: “Allegro” [7]
Fanny Hensel: 4 Lieder für das Pianoforte, opus 8: 4. “Wanderlied” [5]
Leopoldine Blahetka: Nocturne, opus 46, n° 1 [10]
Lili Boulanger: Thčme et Variations, LB 33 [6]
Agathe Backer Grřndahl: Suite, opus 20, n° 5: “Scherzo” [10]
Mel Bonis: Barcarolle, opus 71 [10]
Cécile Chaminade: Grandes Etudes de Concert, opus 35: 2. “Automne” [5]
Philippine Schick: Metamorphosen, opus 52 [11]
Beatriz Lockhart: Joropo [1]
Lía Cimaglia Espinosa: Tango 70 [7]
Dorothea Hofmann: Zwei serbische Lieder für Klavier solo: “Unter dem Baum steht mein Schatz” [1, 8]
Yami CruzMontero [1], Karla Martínez [2], Serena Chillemi [3]. Johanna Henschel [4], Marie Sophie Hauzel [5], Débora Halász [6], Iván Rolón [7], Jelena Stojkovic [8], Sonja Uhlmann [9], Dmitry Mayboroda [10], Markus Bellheim [11] (piano)
Recording: Bayerischer Rundfunk München, Studio 2, Munich, Germany (November 25 – December 6, 2024) – 146’
A co-production with BR-KLASSIK 2CD Digipack Prospero Classical PROSP0129 (Distributed by Naxos of America) – Booklet in German and English
An exciting two-CD album is bringing women composers the attention they deserve.
“She Composed” is a collection of 53 piano compositions by women, covering the eras from Classical to Contemporary. The works reflect a host of moods and points of view, sometimes dreamy and labyrinthine, other times brash and insolent. Ranging in length from one to just over 10 minutes, they are played with insight and enthusiasm by 11 excellent pianists, including three men.
This album is intriguing on several different levels. First, it provides access to music which has not been taken seriously as art simply because the creator was a woman. The album also presents biographies and portraits of the composers and puts them in their historical context. And finally, there is the music itself: concise yet still complex works intermingled with short pieces alternatively radiant with energy, reflection, and good humor.
“She Composed” is the brainchild of pianist Yami CruzMontero, who would like to see at least 50 percent of concert programs featuring works by this significantly overlooked sector of the worldwide musical landscape. A Cuban‑born musician now living in Germany, CruzMontero has joined forces with musicologist Dr. Ulrike Keil and other like‑minded music lovers to produce a collection that I found both enjoyable and ground-breaking.
The CD packaging is uniquely attractive, with individual portraits and the names of corresponding composers. What a pleasure to lock eyes with Elizabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre (1665‑1729), whose minuet in this album rivals the best short pieces by Rameau and Couperin.
Even if listeners can claim little knowledge of woman composers, this album’s choices will be familiar to many. Florence Price is one of the most well‑known woman composers in the world today, thanks to remarkable research and advocacy of music scholars. The Philadelphia Orchestra under Yannick Nézet‑Séguin won the Grammy Award for Best Orchestra © for their recording of Florence Price’s Symphonies n°s 1 and 3. In this album of shorter works, listeners are treated to one of Price’s 3 Little Negro Dances (“Hoe Cake, Corn Cake”), a pleasing number cheerfully performed by CruzMontero.
The names of other featured composers may ring a bell: Germaine Tailleferre, Louise Farrenc, Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger and Mel Bonis. Another familiar name is that of Dame Ethel Smyth, composer of six operas and one of the most renowned British composers of the last century.
Other composers who may be less well known are given space to display their significant talents. I was especially delighted by the tangos and other Spanish-Hispanic flavored dances. These include spicy works by Lía Cemaglia Espinosa (Argentina), Alicia Terzian (Argentina), Beatriz Lockhart (Uruguay), Aurora Román Casares (Ecuador), Lina Pesce (Brazil) and several others. Many thanks to the late male composer, Astor Piazzolla, for opening doors to this kind of music, so zesty and yet often profound.
The album is largely international, though I counted only one Asian piece, n° 2 of Techno Etudes I8 by Japanese composer, Karen Tanaka and a few composers representing The United States (home of Caroline Shaw, Missy Mazzoli, Jennifer Higdon, et al.).
Several works pay homage to Bach and the great preludes and inventions. Notable in this regard are Smyth’s upbeat Invention and Schumann’s soul‑searching Präludium und Fuge. Schumann’s prelude and fugue is thoughtful, but also full of romantic feeling. Not surprising, there were several selections in the album dedicated to children. This collection also promises to make a significant contribution to piano education, especially in inculcating appreciation of women’s music as something that can be and needs to be studied and learned at an early age.
Which selection from this cornucopia of musical delights was my particular favorite? It’s hard to say, but in the end, I would have to cast my vote for Boulanger’s Thčme et Variations. Oddly enough, the theme itself, written for a single hand, did not impress me immediately. In fact, I was almost ready to forward to the next track when Boulanger’s magnetic musical personality pulled me back. This is one of the longer works in this album, clocking in at 10 minutes and 28 seconds. Brazilian Pianist Débora Halász brings this mysterious, moody theme out of the shadows into a cluster of eight variations. The music seems to rise like a long‑stemmed flower—perhaps the Lili of the composer’s surname—each slender bud opening to fulfill an inherent promise. Or possibly foreshadowing the composer’s premature death at age 24.
“She Composed” is a tremendous achievement, cheering on the women who have always composed, despite barriers and providing a context for future accomplishments.
Linda Holt
|
