The original idea of this blog was to write about notable women who played in orchestras. But as I got into the research I decided to change it to female classical musicians. And as I looked further into the women that are being discussed in this blog I found that they all had one thing in common. They were all composers. So at first it was like where were these people when I was doing the female composer blog? Then I realised if I had found out about them the first time around they would’ve had to be included in a second blog anyway because the composer blog was just so big. In this blog though I will be talking more about their achievements as musicians and composers rather then going into the style of music they composed like last time. So here are four amazing female classical musicians and composers!
Teresa Carreno (1853-1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, singer and composer. A child prodigy, she composed her first piece of music for the piano at the age of six. Ms Carreno had a concert career spanning 54 years and had composed approximately 75 works for piano, solo voice, choir and orchestra. She also played with two orchestras, an artist troupe and the Philharmonic Society in England.
Francesca Caccini (1587-1641) was an Italian composer, singer, lutenist and music teacher during the early Baroque period. Her nickname was La Cecchina, which means The Songbird. Ms Caccini was the first female to compose an opera and this opera is her only surviving stage work and is considered to be the oldest opera written by a female composer.
Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944) was a French composer and pianist. During her music career, Ms Chaminade toured extensively and her compositions gained popularity in England and America.
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet De La Guerre (1645-1729) was a French musician, harpsichordist and composer. She was also a child prodigy. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet De La Guerre was also one of the few known female composers of her time and wrote music in a wide variety of forms. Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet De La Guerre (okay I know that at this point a she would suffice but I’m enjoying writing out her name in full because it is so amazingly long!) was also the first French woman to compose an opera. Her early sonatas survive in manuscript form in Paris.
WHAT I HAVE LEARNED FROM THIS BLOG
- Mozart was definitely not the only child prodigy to become a successful composer. I wonder how many more female classical child prodigies were out there.
- Classical music seems to be very much a man, man, man’s world!
Women In Stereo 