As is the case with all too many things historical, the talent of women composers is underrepresented in the genre of classical music. In spite of the odds being against them women wrote, and continue to write, exceptional classical music that can be enjoyed today. They deserve more exposure, so it feels like a good idea to do my bit to mitigate our cultural musical myopia.
Below are some female classical composers whose works I have encountered, with links to music samples for each of them.
1) Ruth Crawford Seeger (July 3, 1901 – Nov 18, 1953) (née Ruth Porter Crawford) was a modernist composer and later composed folk music.
2) Pauline Viardot (July 18, 1821 – May 18, 1910) (née García) was a soprano who began composing when she was young.
3) Marianna Auenbrugger (July 19, 1759 – Aug 25, 1782) was a well regarded Viennese pianist and composer.
4) Sophie Menter (July 29, 1846 — Feb 23, 1918) was a piano virtuoso and composer.
5) Suzanne Giraud (born 31 July 1958) is a contemporary French composer.
Wen-Chung Chiang
6) Sansan Chien (July 1, 1967 – Oct 24, 2011) Taiwanese composer. (I used google translate for the song titles so if they’re not perfect I apologize)
7) Julia Tsenova (July 30, 1948 – April 11, 2010) was a Bulgarian pianist and composer.
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