Over the last few years, I have really enjoyed getting to know music by a wide range of composers, particularly those who have less coverage such as female composers. Since it’s my birthday I wanted to share some of my favourite female classical composers whose works I have enjoyed performing and listening to. So, here are my current top 10 female composers!
(N.B these are only my current favourites, they have already changed so much in the 3 months preparing for this article(!), and of course this is just my personal order of favourites, so apologies to anyone who disagrees, I just hope this list will make you aware of some composers you may not have heard much from before!)
10. Lili Boulanger
Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) was a French composer and first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize. Despite tragically dying at the age of 24 she was still able to compose numerous works, particularly vocal, orchestral and piano pieces. I particularly love the harmonies and textures she utilises in her works.
Favourite pieces: Psalm 130, Les Sirens, Vielle Priere Bouddhique
9. Hiromi Uehara
Hiromi Uehara (b. 1979) is a Japanese pianist and composer who combines jazz, classical and rock genres in her pieces. She is most well known for her virtuosic, energetic performances and compositions. However, some of her pieces, such as Green Tea Farm, which is my particular favourite, also offer a more relaxing almost ethereal feel.
Favourite pieces: Green Tea Farm, Place to Be, Voice, Labyrinth, Delusion
8. Sarah MacDonald
At number 8 is my friend and brilliant composer Sarah MacDonald (b. 1968, Canada). The majority of her works are choral anthems and hymns. I’ve had the pleasure to sing lots of them during my time with Selwyn College Chapel Choir and know how singable and well written for voices they are. They are also full of beautiful harmonies and melodies, especially my favourite of her works, Crux Fidelis, a choral piece for split SATB choir, setting words by Christina Rosetti.
Favourite pieces: Crux Fidelis, He Made the Stars Also, Advent Responsories, Sing My Soul, MacDonald Canticles in Ab
7. Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann (1819-1896) was a German pianist and composer, most well known for her piano solos and lieder songs, but she also wrote chamber works and choral pieces. I love the exquisite melodies in all her works but especially enjoy singing and listening to her expressive songs, particularly Sie Liebten sich Beider from 6 Lieder op. 13.
Favourite pieces: 6 Lieder op. 13, 3 Romances op. 11, 12 Gedichte aus Liebesfruhling, The Maiden’s Prayer
6. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Fanny Mendlessohn Hensel (1805-1847) was also a German pianist and composer who wrote an enormous amount of music, including more than 125 pieces for piano and over 250 lieder. I really enjoy the expressive harmonies present in her works, which were fairly experimental for her time, and loved listening to her Piano Trio in D minor which I thought was a wonderful piece of music, particularly since she had never studied or played string instruments.
Favourite pieces: Vier lieder für das piano forte (1850), Gebet in der Christnacht, Nocturne in G minor, String Quartet in Eb major, Piano Trio in D minor
5. Florence Price
Now down to my top 5, at number 5 is American composer Florence Price (1887-1953). She made history in 1933 by being the first African-American woman to have a symphony performed by a major US orchestra. She has also written a massive amount of vocal, solo instrumental and chamber music in addition to her orchestral pieces, symphonies and concertos. I really admire the way she skilfully interweaves elements from African-American spirituals, church music and blues music with European romantic techniques in lots of her works.
Favourite pieces: The Deserted Garden, Symphony No. 1 in E minor, Fantasie Negre No. 1, The Saint’s Delight, The Oak
4. Madeleine Dring
Madeleine Dring (1923-1977) was an English composer who went her own way as a composer, creating an original, distinctive sound that looked to the future and was full of novelty and surprise. Most of her output was in shorter forms, largely instrumental and vocal solos, but she also wrote music for theatre, drama and TV. I love Dring’s fresh approaches to rhythm and harmony, particularly in her very original songs which are so fun to sing and listen to. From quirky to emotional, her songs cover a variety of moods and offer something for everyone.
Favourite pieces: 7 Shakespeare Songs, 4 Night Songs, 5 Betjeman Songs, I Hate Music, Colour Suite
3. Ethel Smyth
In the bronze medal position is Ethel Smyth (1858-1944), English composer and a member of the women’s suffrage movement, often remembered for leaning out a window to conduct singing suffragettes in Holloway Prison. One of her most famous pieces is The March of the Women which was used as the anthem of the suffragette movement, but she also wrote a large number of songs, works for piano, orchestra, choir, chamber ensembles and opera. I think Ethel Smyth is one of the most underrated composers I have come across. Her works are bold, exciting and full of rich Romantic harmonies, particularly her Mass in D which is one of my favourite mass settings of all time.
Favourite pieces: Mass in D, The March of the Women, 5 Songs and Ballads op. 3, Serenade in D Major, Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in D Minor
2. Margaret Bonds
In 2nd place is American composer Margaret Bonds (1913-1972), who combined her father’s activism with her mother’s musicianship to produce many exceptional works importantly addressing racial issues of the time. She is probably most well known today for her arrangements of African-American spirituals but she also composed lots of original music, including vocal solos, piano solos, choral works and pieces for the stage. There’s a lot I love about the music of Margaret Bonds, including gorgeous melodies and impressive orchestration, but one of the elements I find most remarkable is the synthesis of various music styles such as classical, jazz, blues, calypso and spirituals.
Favourite pieces: Tangamerican, Spiritual suite, especially No. 3 Troubled Water, Ballad of the Brown King, 3 Dream Portraits, particularly the heart wrenching Minstrel Man, Montgomery Variations, 5 Creek Freedmen Spirituals
1. Amy Beach
And finally, at number 1 is American composer Amy Beach (1867-1944)! She has written a significant number of works, most of which are in the Romantic idiom, including choral, symphonic, chamber and piano works, in addition to over 150 songs. She was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music, with her Gaelic Symphony the first symphony composed and published by an American woman. Amy Beach comes in at number 1 for me because, without any technical analysis, I really love her melodies and the harmonies she chooses to accompany them with. Her music is so beautiful and reminds me of just how emotional music can be.
Favourite pieces: Violin Romance Op. 23, Nunc Dimittis, 3 Compositions op. 40, particularly No. 2 Berceuse, 4 Sketches op. 15, especially No. 3 Dreaming, Invocation, Piano concerto in C# min op. 45
If you’d like to listen to some of the pieces I’ve mentioned, I have made a YouTube playlist featuring as many of my favourite pieces mentioned in this article that I can find (https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMpqCG-kFxUhSNE2FP1Pt0Mj3IH09IUTM). I hope you enjoy listening to this beautiful music as much as I do!
It’s been so hard to pick my top 10 favourites as there are so many extremely talented female composers, both past and present. I’ve been trying to decide over the past 3 months and have changed my mind on at least one place each time I’ve thought about it! I’m very happy with my final list but I also wanted to include all the other composers I have considered throughout the process which you can find below. I hope the lists of my top 10 and other notable mentions will introduce you to lots of amazing composers who you may not have heard of before and encourage you to explore their music!
Other notable mentions: Undine Smith-Moore, Cecilia McDowall, Eleanor Daley, Grace Williams, Cecile Chaminade, Rebecca Clarke, Erollyn Wallen, Augusta Holmes, Sally Albrecht, Chiquinha Gonzaga, Roxanna Panufnik, Alice Mary Smith
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