Piano Works by Women Composers (1805 - present) скачать в хорошем качестве

Piano Works by Women Composers (1805 - present)

Notes by the performer, Sanford Jones of Youth Opera International www.youthoperaintl.com 2020 was declared The Year of the Woman, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the woman’s right to vote in America, with the exception of African-American women, who were given the right to vote in 1965. Many women have made significant contributions to the composition and performance of piano literature, as well as songs, quartets, symphonies and oratorios. The first selection is by composer and my friend, Stacy Garrop. Stacy arranged the solo piano edition of The Solitude of Stars for her husband as a birthday present. Billie’s Song, by Valerie Capers, honors the life of iconic jazz singer Billie Holliday. Fond memories of one of my piano teachers, Elvina Truman Pearce, at Westminster Choir College, inspired me to feature one of her works. I recall seeing the name of Cecile Chaminade on the title page of “Scarf Dance”, when I was a child studying from the John Thompson piano series. I was fascinated by the opening figure of the pieces, but my little hands were not large enough to play the entire piece. 75 years later, it was gratifying to meet “an old friend”, when my hands could manage to play the whole piece! Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel have most often been shadow figures in their families but Clara, as wife of Robert Schumann, and Fanny, as sister of Felix Mendelssohn, eclipsed them as solo performers in concerts throughout Europe. About the Composers Stacy Garrop (b. 1969) is a composer living in the Chicago area. She taught composition and orchestration at Roosevelt University before leaving to launch her career. Ms. Garrop has received numerous awards and grants, including an Arts and Letters Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Valerie Capers (b. 1935) was born in in NYC and lost her sight at the age of six. She received he early education at the New York Institute for the Education of the Blind. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree at the Juilliard School and embarked on a career as a classical pianist as well as jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Elvina Truman Pearce (b. 1931) was a leading piano pedagogue. Through her work at The New School for Music Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, Pearce influenced generations of piano students. She began her career as a performing pianist, concertizing throughout the United States from her two concerti performances in Chicago with the Chicago Symphony and the Chicago Theater of the Air, to her milestone recital at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. Amy Marcy Beach (1867-1944) was an American composer and pianist. She began her musical training singing over 40 tunes accurately at the age of 1, improvising harmonic lines before age 2, and composing at age 4. Amy gave her first public recitals at age 7, including works by Handel, Beethoven, and Chopin. Embarking on her professional performing career at age 18, Beach debuted in a concerto performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944) was a French composer and pianist. In 1913, she was awarded the Légion d'Honneur, a first for a female composer. Chaminade was a child prodigy and her first compositions date from the age of eight. She gave her first public recital at age 18, and appeared frequently in France and Belgium, often playing her own music. Chaminade made her American debut in 1908, playing with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Teresa Carreño (1853-1917) was a Venezuelan pianist, singer and composer performed for Abraham Lincoln at the White House in 1863. She composed at least 40 works for piano, two for voice and piano, two for choir and orchestra, and two pieces of chamber music. Agathe Backer-Grondahl (1847-1907) was a Norwegian pianist and composer who studied with von Bulow, Kullak and Liszt. She was greatly admired for her songs and piano works, which displayed a happy blend of musicality and technique. Clara Schumann (nee Wieck) (1819-1996) was born into a middle-class family in Leipzig, Germany. Her father was a piano teacher and her mother was a concert pianist. Clara was a child prodigy, and as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, Schumann exerted her influence over a 61-year concert career, changing the format and repertoire of the piano recital from displays of virtuosity to programs of serious works. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847) The eldest sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn, Fannie composed more than 460 works, including a piano quartet, a string quartet, a cantata, an oratorio and several books of piano duets and songs.