Final Flashcards
(15 cards)
Symphony No. 3, Op. 36 (movement 1)
Composer: Louise Farrenc
Date: 1849
Genre: symphony
Notes: premiered by Société des concerts du Conservatoire, was positively noted in reviews, pianist, studied with Reicha, married a music publisher, researched early music later in life and published an anthology of keyboard instrument masterworks, broke the norms of women only composing small-scale works
Piano Sonata in C minor, Allegro (movement 1)
Composer: Cécile Chaminade
Date: 1895
Genre: sonata
Notes: breaks traditional sonata form by not establishing a second key, maybe to avoid the gender connotation of the “masculine” vs. “feminine” themes, her only keyboard sonata, wrote many miniatures and mélodies, first woman to become Chevaliére of the Legion of Honor by French government, made a living by publishing music and touring England, Europe, and the US performing piano
The Wrecker’s Overture
Composer: Ethel Smyth
Date: 1904
Genre: opera
Notes: about the Cornwall coast, Wreckers are people who lead ships astray and then loot them, main character’s husband was one, she tried to run away with another man, but they were caught and put to death; merging of English musical tradition and Germanic training, thematic material similar to leitmotivs, not commissioned but was performed, she took it from their stands before the second performance, was a supporter of women’s rights movement, made Dame Commander for work as composer and writer in 1922
Piano Concerto in D minor, Op. 37
Composer: Louise Adolpha Le Beau
Date: 1887-88
Genre: concerto
Notes: wrote in the larger forms (symphony, concerto, opera) as well as chamber music and received pushback for doing so, studied piano and composition with Clara Schumann and others, earned living as pianist, teacher, music critic, composer, conservative composer, works praised as “masculine,” cello sonata won first prize in a competition in Hamburg in 1882
“Demain fera un an” from song cycle Clairiéres dans le ciel
Composer: Lili Boulanger
Date: 1914
Genre: final song from song cycle
Notes: cycle tells the story of a love lost, is through-composed; first woman to win Prix du Rome (her second attempt) in 1913, harmonic structure reflects her coming into her own as a composer, also composed instrumental music, had poor health, died young, sister Nadia was a lifelong advocate of her work, many vocal works that fit the French language well, works reflect the changing political times with alienation and isolation, uses different modes and nonfunctional seventh/ninth chords, harmony as surface of music instead of background
Symphony in E minor, Op. 32, “Gaelic,” movement 2
Composer: Amy Beach
Date: 1894
Genre: symphony
Notes: first symphony published by female American composer, in response to Dvorak’s “New World,” incorporates English, Irish, and Scottish melodies, because that’s where her family came from; pianist, first woman to gain international reputation as composer of orchestral and chamber music, as well as piano and voice, part of the Boston “Second New School” including other women, married a doctor, he wanted her to focus on composition not performance, she went back to performing and continued composing after he died, works were published throughout her life, had an exclusive publishing relationship with Schmidt, works performed frequently during her life by leading ensembles and performers
Sonata in c-sharp minor for violin and piano, “Modéré sans lenteur” (movement 1)
Composer: Germaine Tailleferre
Date: 1923
Genre: sonata
Notes: wrote for Jacques Thibauld, met in England in 1920, premiered in Paris, traditional sonata form; one of Les Six, prodigy pianist and composer, trained at Paris Conservatoire, received many prestigious commissions, wrote ballet and cantata (along with later interest in and band, more sonatas and concertos, short opera, almost did film scores for Charlie Chaplin, had bad luck with marriages, kept writing throughout the span of her career, neoclassical, bitonality, modality, pentatonicism, polytonality
Trio for Piano, Violin, and Cello, “Allegro vigoroso” (movement 3)
Composer: Rebecca Clarke
Date: 1921
Genre: piano trio
Notes: written for Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge’s competition, won second prize, transformation and repetition of motifs, themes in cyclic way, duplets or quadruplets against triplets; eclectic style combining “French” harmonic characteristics with chromatic, diatonic, modal writing, British composer, started out on violin but switched to viola, most of her works are for strings, stopped first lessons when teacher proposed to her (teenage years), stopped composing after marriage, wrote for music publications, was well connected in the music world (Vaughn Williams, Holst, Ravel, Rubinstein)
String Quartet 1931, movements 3 and 4
Composer: Ruth Crawford Seeger
Date: 1931
Genre: string quartet
Notes: serial techniques, written while on a Guggenheim Fellowship trip to Berlin and other European cities, feminist interpretations of the work (masculine voice leading to climax, feminine foiling it; voice 1 as female persona, voice 2 as male), “dissonance of mood;” part of the American ultra-modernists (Cowell, Ruggles, Varése), Expressionist and Constructivist, also interested in folk music, originally intended to become a concert pianist, studied at American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, took a break from composing while raising kids, returned with wind quintet and died of cancer
Sonata II
Composer: Grażyna Bacewicz
Date: 1953
Genre: piano sonata
Notes: she premiered it in Warsaw, follows traditional sonata-allegro form with a short introduction, second theme based on a Polish folk tune, Largo begins with chorale-like theme, has Gershwin/Ravel type harmonies, final movement is a toccata based on a Polish dance (oberek); Polish composer, great violinist and pianist, developed compositional voice without access to works outside her country because of socialist control, used folk themes
Premier acte (Traversée) from L’Amour de loin
Composer: Kaija Saariaho
Date: 2000
Genre: opera
Notes: “Love from afar,” about a prince who sings of love, Pilgrim acts as go between for him and the Countess of Tripoli, who wants him to remain afar, but he travels to see her, dies right as they meet, she regrets it; first opera programmed by the Met since 1903 (Smyth, Der Wald), the most famous Finnish woman composer, most works with electronics, often commissioned, moved to Paris in 1982, spectral music influenced by time at Darmstadt
Song to the Dark Virgin
Composer: Florence Price
Date: 1941
Genre: art song
Notes: poem by Langston Hughes, text painting, open chords representing emptiness felt by woman who is looked at as little more than a body, climax in second stanza, third is tired, male perspective from text with female perspective from music; African-American composer, from Arkansas but moved to Chicago during racial tensions in 1927, part of the Harlem renaissance movement where leaders encouraged African-Americans to imitate European models while reflecting African-American experience, she achieved this by using spirituals, characteristic dance rhythms, melodies associated with African-American culture; Symphony was performed by big orchestras at the time, won Wanamaker competition in 1932, rose to prominence, songs reflect European art style and incorporate African-American characteristics
“Monologue of Mary” from Mary, Queen of Scots
Composer: Thea Musgrave
Date: 1977
Genre: opera
Notes: she wrote the libretto, about Mary Stuart (1542-1587) who was heir to the throne in Scotland, had unsuccessful marriages (widowed, second husband murdered), imprisoned by Scottish nobles, escaped to England where Elizabeth feared her as second in line, put her in confinement for 18 years, executed her; extended tonality, lyric setting of English, brass “power blasts;” very influential British composer, moved to US in 1972, conductor, chromaticism, serialism, abstract form, “dramatic-abstract” procedures use of electronics/prerecorded tape, a few operas, many works
Bye, bye, butterfly
Composer: Pauline Oliveros
Date: 1965
Genre: electronic song
Notes: samples from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly made with oscillators, live amplifiers, turntable, tape recorders in delay setup, audio metaphor for women’s place in society and how she was dealing with it, “bidding farewell to the polite morality” of 19th century and the “institutionalized oppression of the female sex;” was interested in experimental and electronic music, helped establish and run Tape Centers and other experimental music places, Asian influences, slowed-down/meditative improvisation, active awareness
Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
Composer: Joan Tower
Date: 1986
Genre: brass and percussion fanfare
Notes: one of a series of six fanfares, inspired by instrumentation of Copland’s Fanfare, adding marimba, glockenspiel, chimes, drums, dedicated to Marin Alsop; composer, concert pianist, conductor, has won many prestigious awards/fellowships (Guggenheim), works performed by major orchestras, regarded as a highly influential female composer, many works (chamber to orchestral, one vocal, some solo), known for tone poems (Sequoia), inspired by Bolivian rhythm
