“One is best known only as Stravinsky’s piano teacher. Others are barely known at all,” writes Hannah Furness in Saturday’s (1/27) Daily Telegraph (London). “From this year, the names of five female composers whose work has been all-but lost to history will at last become British household names. The BBC has announced the names of five ‘forgotten’ women whose work they will now record and broadcast: Leokadiya Kashperova [1872-1940], Marianna Martines [1744-1812], Florence Price [1887-1953], Augusta Holmès [1847-1903], and Johanna Müller-Hermann [1868-1941]. In some cases, their compositions will be heard for the first time in a century; others will be played in public for the very first time. Alan Davey, controller of BBC Radio 3, said, … ‘We are not only expanding the canon of classical music, but also actually helping to redress its historic imbalance when it comes to gender and diversity.’ The five women … were identified as part of a project to seek out previously lost, forgotten or little-known female composers, and make their work available to perform. A selection of their pieces has been recorded by the BBC orchestras and choirs, to be played first on Radio 3 on March 8, International Women’s Day.”
Posted February 2, 2018
In photo: Augusta Holmès is among the female composers whose work will be recorded and broadcast by the BBC in a new project. Credit: Alamy.
