"He had a mutilated score of the F Sharp Minor Sonata, which he had heard Clara Schumann play at a festival in Leipzig." Excerpt from the 1915 novel, "The Song of the Lark" by Willa Cather. It's a book intended for a general audience. It appears that Clara was still a well known name. ♀️😎🎹❤️🔥

Some thoughts on AI narration: Humans are attuned to spot differences. Subtle ones. It's how we survived on the Serengeti millennia ago; knowing the difference between one sound & another could literally mean life or death. Even a "good" AI reader will repeat things in exactly the same way. (1/3)

Books about historical women composers! Most are nonfiction, however there is some fiction: novels about real composers & also fictitious ones. There are lists of books about women composers, however none of them focus solely on fiction. So I made a database: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Recently found a video from 40+ yrs ago. From what I've gotten to work thus far (the VHS tape is wonky) I'm playing a wearable cello, then, guitar & foot keyboard. My musical partner, Rorie is on body drums (our invention) keyboard bass & vocals. Song's an original. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKch...

Finally went for it and got cds made of my latest record. (Streaming's ok, but it's nice to have physical media with liner notes* *a quaint term from an earlier era that some might not know.)

"He has no musical advisor but me, so does not commit a single thought to paper without having previously submitted it for my perusal." - Fanny Mendelssohn, writing about her brother Felix in 1822

1/2 Author Harriet Constable, on Vivaldi: "Scholars agree, that without the Pietá and the Figlie Di Coro, a breeding ground of talent to test ideas, his music would not exist today."

There's music I encountered at young age that's now substrate to my "listening being." On rare occasions, I'll hear a work that has the same effect, wherein in short order, it's as if I've been hearing it my whole life and it was always meant to be there. Barraine: open.spotify.com/album/7FeBcD...

A playlist: "Artists who require masks at their shows in 2025 😷" A few songs from each act; pls check out artists' own accounts to hear more - or better yet, mask up & go see them live! Suggestions for more artists: feel free to comment here, or dm me on fb! open.spotify.com/playlist/7iy...

Sometimes, sci-fi is prescient; in this case, it's instant reality: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝑯𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒍, by Laila Lalami, pub. Mar 4, 2025. An article by Canadian actor/recent ICE detainee, Jasmine Mooney, pub. March 19, 2025. The similarities are chilling, to say the least. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Some of this is quite dated, however the overall sentiment seems quite appropriate for the current moment: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EVA...

Delphine von Schauroth! "From the late 1820s until the early 1840s her reputation was truly dazzling, & some publications placed her above (Clara) Schumann. That Schauroth is virtually unknown today speaks more to the workings of history than to her renown in the nineteenth century." -Amanda Lalonde

I love this quote by Peter Neubäcker! (Melodyne) Seems particularly apt while in the throes of figuring out difficult music on the cello: "...I thought it would be impossible. But the more I pondered the subject, the more I began to see that what doesn't work in theory can still work in reality."

1/5 Cecelia Hopkins Porter: "Over the centuries, countless generations of women musical artists have won varying degrees of success in performing & composing even while charged with the responsibilities of marriage, motherhood, & other types of family caregiving.

2024 has been an amazing year for premiere recordings of works by historical women composers. Some of my to die fors: Rita Strohl - piano quintet; piano septet Jeanne Leleu - quartet for piano & strings Delphine von Schauroth - piano works Here's some Strohl: open.spotify.com/wrapped/shar...

Thrilled to announce Call for Participation for The Expansive Canvas: Large-Scale Form in the Music of 19th C Women Composers | 26–28/8/2025. Hosted by TCD Dept of Music, RIAM & @tlrhub.bsky.social Calling PERFORMERS, SCHOLARS & INDUSTRY LEADERS expansivecanvas.com

There are a number of reasons why great works by historical women composers aren’t well known and at the heart of the classical canon, even though it’s clear that they should be. One reason: exposure. There are decades worth of recordings by male composers, often in multiple versions. (1/5)

𝐌𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝑼𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒚: 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒌𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑾𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝑨𝒓𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑼𝒏𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥. 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝/𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠: corbinkeep.bandcamp.com/album/unspea...

So frustrating to see a woman composer's name on lots of programs, then discover that Worldcat shows only 20 surviving scores, most in inaccessible libraries. (Thank you Eastman for the one digitized set of songs.)

A milestone! My database of historical cello works by women has reached 250 composers. Note: some of the pieces are arrangements (not originally written for cello; this is delineated clearly, including if the arrangement is by the composer). The cutoff date for the list is 1951. www.wildcellist.ca

Mel Bonis (1858-1937): “Two people I know, wanting to get "up-to-date," decided to play a piece by Haydn with four hands, transposing one of the parts by a semitone. No one among the listeners doubted it was written by one of the stars of the day, which earned him some well rounded applause.”

For those who cannot get enough cello music written by historical women composers (and who can?!) here's a playlist. Works are in chronological order by year written; the cutoff is date is 1951. open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZH...

ETHEL SMYTH SYMPOSIUM ALERT!!! The deadline for the CfP is 29 January - papers can deal with any aspect of Smyth's life, music, and context Details for submission are here: drive.google.com/file/d/1-jWm...

Criticize the movie, fine, but this waaaay too long, mansplain-y article goes far beyond that and does little more than perpetuate the same old musical misogyny/"dead white male composers are the only good ones" drivel. Puke emoji responses welcome. compactmag.com/article/the-...

Spotify stat: my top artist for 2023 was Ethyl Smyth, followed by Mel Bonis, Emilie Mayer and Charlotte Sohy. Nearly 283 hours listened. And Vancouver BC - of all places (right across the water from where I live) - apparently has the highest per capita of spotify listeners with similar taste...😮