Women of Note

A Celebration of Music by Historic and Living Women Composers

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel | Overture in C Major

Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847), the oldest of four children, was born four years before her younger brother. Her compositional gifts were overlooked for many years, despite the fact she wrote more than 250 Lieder (songs), more than 125 piano pieces, a piano quartet, piano trio, and her vivacious Overture in C. Nearly all of them remained unpublished during her lifetime. Renewed interest in recent years has helped restore her rightful place in history.

One teacher, Carl Friedrich Zelter, wrote that Abraham Mendelssohn had “adorable children, and his oldest daughter could give you something of Sebastian Bach. This child is really something special.”

In the words of historian Richard Taruskin, “The life of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel is compelling proof that women’s failure to ‘compete’ with men on the compositional playing-field has been the result of social prejudice and patriarchical mores…” To his credit, her husband, artist Wilhelm Hensel, supported her music and believed she should publish.

Felix and Fanny were very close. As they grew up, works both had written were performed frequently at Sunday concerts in their home. At Fanny’s public debut as a pianist, she performed her brother’s first piano concerto. They wrote to each other often, and she sent constructive criticism which he always considered carefully. Felix, in fact, often called her “Minerva,” comparing her to the Roman goddess of wisdom.

In 1847, Fanny suffered a stroke while rehearsing her brother’s oratorio The First Walpurgis Night. She was only 42 years old, and her death shocked Felix greatly. After his own series of strokes, he died later that year at the age of 38.

Scholars believe Fanny wrote her Overture in C Major sometime between 1830 and 1832. It languished, undiscovered, in a library for more than 100 years after her death. It is one of very few orchestral compositions from the early 19th century, but its skillful writing amply demonstrates her deep understanding of instruments and compositional craft.

It probably received few performances, but Fanny was invited to conduct at least one of them. She later wrote to Felix:

Had I not been so shy, and embarrassed with every stroke, I would’ve been able to conduct reasonably well. It was great fun to hear the piece for the first time in two years and find everything the way I remembered. People seemed to like it—they were very kind, praised me, criticized a few impractical passages, and will return next Saturday. Thus I took part in an unexpected pleasure.

Notes by the Jackson Symphony Orchestra

Watch a Performance of “Overture in C Major”

Mabel Daniels | Deep Forest

Mabel Wheeler Daniels (1877-1971) was an American composer, conductor, and teacher. Based in Boston, Daniels studied at Radcliffe College, The Royal Conservatory in Munich, and with composer George Chadwick. Daniels was inspired to write “Deep Forest” after many summers at the MacDowell Colony, a storied retreat in New Hampshire for American poets, artists, and composers. Enveloped in nature, Daniels composed an atmospheric tone poem to reflect her tranquil surroundings. Originally scored for small orchestra and performed in 1931, “Deep Forest” in its full orchestral form was first performed by the New York Symphony Orchestra under Nicolai Sokoloff in 1934. It was later played by orchestras in Washington DC, Rochester, Harrisburg, London, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall. “Deep Forest” was Daniels’ first purely orchestral work and shows her background in vocal writing. Listen for lyrical lines in the winds, the horns’ atmosphere and drama, and lush string chords. Tritones and diminished chords abound, adding to the sense of mystery.

Watch a Performance of “Deep Forest”

Stephanie Berg | Ravish and Mayhem

In Berg’s (b. 1989) own words: “Composition, I find, is much like cooking: it’s all about proportion, balance, and the interplay of contrast and unity. But at the end of the day, no matter how complex your ideas are, how innovative your dish is, it still has to taste good....The inspiration for Ravish and Mayhem came to me randomly while driving on a long trip some years ago. Perhaps highway hypnosis forced my brain to create some sort of entertainment, but nevertheless I was taken by the vivacity and virtuosity of what I heard. The image that stuck in my head was that of a bacchanal-esque Arabian street festival, and I sought to encapsulate that energy into the piece through the triumphant fanfares and lively folk-style melodies that are presented throughout. I imagine a person traveling from scene to scene, witnessing wild dancers, street performers, and amorous couples until the elephants arrive to announce the grand finale. This piece was premiered at the 2012 Mizzou New Music Festival by"Alarm Will Sound.” Berg has composed orchestral works, chamber works, and electronic music. She also enjoys a rich instrumental career, performing on clarinet, E-flat clarinet, bass clarinet, and saxophone.

Watch a Performance of “Ravish and Mayhem”

Emilie Mayer | Symphony No. 1

Emilie Mayer (1812 – 1883) is often called the “female Beethoven.” Her music was highly regarded in her own time, and is marked by inventive harmonies within the traditional Germanic forms. Over her career, Mayer composed eight symphonies, seven symphonic overtures, eight violin sonatas, twelve cello sonatas, seven string quartets, and six piano trios. Sadly, few of her pieces have a score; many are still in their original handwritten form, making it difficult for groups to actually play her music.

Mayer was born in Friedland, Germany in May of 1812 to a wealthy, though not aristocratic, family, and began piano classes at age 5, and composed pieces of “free interpretation” at the same time. Though wealthy, Emilie Mayer’s life circumstances were difficult, as her mother died when she was two years old. Then in 1840, her father shot and killed himself when she was 28, and her teacher died soon after; she threw herself into composition. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Mayer was encouraged to pursue music and composition by her family and male mentors, and not expected to solely be a wife and mother. In 1841 she studied with the important regional composer Carl Loewe, who said of Mayer that "such a God-given talent as hers had not been bestowed upon any other person he knew" and championed her work amongst his colleagues. After relocating to Berlin in the 1850’s, Mayer became connected with influential musicians and patrons in the city's concert scene. Her relationships with orchestras and conductors, including those who premiered her compositions, played a crucial role in the dissemination of her music. She traveled to Cologne, Munich, Leipzig, Halle, Brussels, Strasbourg, Dessau, and Lyon to oversee various performances.

Symphony No. 1 (1847) was premiered alongside her Symphony No. 2 in E minor by the Stettin Instrumental Society. It is in the early romantic style--quirky, lyric, passionate, and in its finale, stormy. Mayer captivates her audience with sudden shifts in tonality, non-standard phrase lengths, and prolonged diminished seventh chords with a variety of resolutions, weaving together vibrant melodies with inventive orchestration.

Watch a Performance of Symphony No. 1

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