The most recent work by R. Larry Todd, one of the foremost scholars of the Mendelssohn family, turns the attention away from Felix and to his older sister, Fanny.  The book, entitled Fanny Hensel – The Other Mendelssohn pays credit to the all too often neglected life and musical achievements of a woman who faced more than her share of obstacles.

As a result of her social class and the cultural expectations that followed, Fanny was largely prevented from fulfilling her desires of creating and performing.  And we can only imagine what it was like for Fanny to watch her brother achieve and excel while she was prevented from being heard.  As a 14 year-old Fanny was told by her father that,

“Music will perhaps become his [Felix’s] profession, but for you it can and must only be an ornament, never the root of your being and doing.”

And to reinforce the point, at 23 she was gain reminded by her father,

“You must become more steady and collected, and prepare more earnestly and eagerly for your calling, the only calling of a young woman – I mean the state of a housewife.”

Though scholarly work on Fanny has been done before, this is the first definitive biography and I am eager to add it to my library.  The book also has a companion website that includes audio clips of several of her pieces.  You can also learn more about the book and Fanny’s life through an article through Classical Minnesota Public Radio, where they also offer a podcast of an interview with the author.

In tribute to this relatively recent release, the Julliard School will be presenting a mini-festival honoring the works of Fanny Mendelssohn.  The Julliard Journal online explains that Dr. Todd is working with the performers to make it a true, “fusion of scholarship and performance.”  The festival, which runs from September 30 to October 2, will include lieder, solo piano pieces, piano duets, her Piano Trio in D Minor, op. 11, String Quartet in E-flat Major, and Das Jahr, a 12 movement cycle for solo piano representing the months of the year.

As Dr. Todd recognizes, “There is the spark of genius in this music, making her as a composer we should now recognize and celebrate.”  Though I believe we should have been recognizing and celebrating her all along, I suppose it’s never too late to start.

For more information about the festival or tickets, you can follow this link.

Missy Mazzoli, whose music is described as being “indie classical”, “chamber rock” and “pseudo-classical”, created her own five-piece ensemble in 2007 to perform her compositions.  Victoire consists of two keyboards, violin, double bass and clarinet – and all of the musicians are women.

Their new CD, Cathedral City, which is their first full-length album, is being released on September 28^th.  However, NPR’s First Listen series is providing the opportunity to listen to the full album online before it hits the stores.

Mazzoli has also composed in more traditional forms, including These Worlds In Us, premiered by the Minnesota Orchestra in 2006, also performed by the American Composers Orchestra, and winner of the 2007 ASCAP Young Composers Award.  Steve Smith of the New York Times also featured her in an article in 2009, found here.

The video below is a profile of Mazzoli regarding her work and approach to music.

Hannah Lash is a young and rising composer, whose body of works is impressive considering her age.  Her most recent piece, a chamber opera entitled “Blood Rose” and based on the tale of “Beauty and the Beast” will be premiered in New York City tomorrow, September 24^th.

The New York Times ran a short story on the composer and her work, found here. The work, which is written for alto, countertenor, and string quartet, will be heard at Park Avenue Christian Church in Manhattan.

I am especially intrigued by Lash’s basis for this piece; the story of Beauty and the Beast, like most folk/fairy tales has long stirred conversation among the feminist-minded regarding gender roles and expectations.  Lash explains in the NYT article:

“I wanted to write about the co-dependency and intermingling of two characters: this emotional kind of cannibalism, in a way…I took the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ legend for that reason, because it seemed to me as though you could go so many different directions in interpreting it. It had such a fertile field for double meanings of words, and just different ways of looking at it.”

The concert will also be performed on Saturday, September 25^th.  To buy tickets and hear for yourself go here.

The New York Times recently referred to Kaija Saariaho as “the world’s longest-toiling overnight success.”  The article by Cori Ellison, makes the reference in regard to the success of Saariaho’s first opera “L’Amour de Loin” at the 2000 Salzburg Festival – a “masterly work [that] seemed to have sprouted like Athena from Zeus’s head.”  Few knew of Saariaho’s previous work.

This includes the ballet “Maa”, unperformed since its 1991 premiere – but will be soon staged again by The Miller Theater at Columbia University.  The American premiere of the work will be heard Wednesday September 22, with repeat performances on the 24^th and 25^th.  The score will be performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble.

“Certainly I don’t make efforts to be mysterious,” she said. “But music itself is a big mystery. We cannot really explain why music affects us so strongly. For me, music is as important as love, as powerful and inexplicable.”

It has been 831 years since the death of Hildegard of Bingen, and her music and writings are still making a dramatic impact throughout scholarship and popular culture.

To celebrate her Feast Day have a listen to her work performed traditionally:

Last fall Hilary Hahn premiered Jennifer Higdon’s Violin Concerto, which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 2010.  Hahn’s recording of the work, which she made with Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic) is scheduled for release on September 21.

However, NPR is offering the album streaming online until the work is officially released next Tuesday.  NPR is also hosting a Live Web Chat with Hilary Hahn and Jennifer Higdon on September 20 at noon (ET) for those interested in learning more and hearing directly from the artists.

The New York Times recently ran a short article about an upcoming concert series hosted by Issue Project Room in Brooklyn, NY.

Issue Project Room defines its mission as:

ISSUE Project Room embraces the integrity of creative exploration and the spirit of unfettered artistic expression by offering a vital meeting place for disparate forms of creativity.

ISSUE Project Room provides an open and versatile environment in which established and emerging artists conduct, exhibit and perform new and site-specific work. Through an evolving collaboration with curators, artists and educators, ISSUE Project Room foments widely ranging artistic projects that challenge and expand artistic practice.

ISSUE Project Room fulfills its mission by curating innovative programs, events, exhibitions, performances, talks and concerts.

The inclusiveness and passion for creative expression associated with Issue Project Room is evident in the upcoming concert series, co-sponsored by The Wire, and titled “Propensity of Sound”.  The five concert series will feature the works of Pauline Oliveros, Eliane Radigue, and Laurie Spiegel.  The five concerts are not being slated as “women’s music” concerts, but the opening line from the NYT article by Steve Smith subtly recognizes the significance of this work:

The history of Western classical music is rife with forgotten side roads, populated by composers and styles overlooked, marginalized or otherwise neglected.

For more details about concert dates and to buy tickets go here.

Today is the 191st birthday of Clara Wieck Schumann, piano virtuoso and composer, though she is most often remembered as the wife and supporter of Robert, as well as friend and source of inspiration (and perhaps torment) to Brahms.

Her life and work is truly honored in Nancy Reich’s biography, Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman.

In honor of her life and work have a listen to her Piano Concerto in A minor, op. 7:

The Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) took place this past weekend at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada.  Founded in 1983, BISQC is a triennial competition that aspires to not only recognize musical greatness, but also support the careers of emerging artists.  The first place ensemble this year is the Cecilia String Quartet, an all-female ensemble based in Toronto, Canada.

The article in the CBC news, found here, includes a statement from competition executive director Barry Shiffman that describes the ensemble as having a, “stunning spirit of creativity that consistently celebrated risk-taking and discovery.”  Though I must note that the article also informs the readers that the groups is, “often brilliantly clad”.  (Really?!?!)

The Cecilia String Quartet will receive $25,000 (CA) and a North American and European tour for 2011-12, a residency at the Banff Centre to help produce a new album, and custom bows.  The group also won the $2,000 Canadian Commission Prize for the best performance of a work commissioned by the competition from Canadian composer Ana Sokolovic .

But this up-and-coming ensemble has a history of performing works by women composers, including Belinda Reynolds and Kelly-Marie Murphy.

This past Sunday, September 5, was the 143^rd birthday of Amy Beach!

I suppose it is fair to say that she is the best known of the still largely unknown, and unrecognized, contingent of historical women composers.  This is due in large part to the work of Adrienne Fried Block.  (Needless to say, her biography of Beach, Amy Beach: Passionate Victorian is an excellent text!)

In honor of Mrs. H.H.A. Beach, her incredible life as a virtuoso pianist and composer, here’s the first movement of her Gaelic Symphony.