Celebrating Women Composers # UK P W1 8
Music by extraordinary, innovative and contemporary women composers
© This image was kindly provided by DONNE | Women in Music © This image was kindly provided by DONNE | Women in Music www.drama-musica.com/Donne.html
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Welcome
VOTE 100: Celebrating Women Composers marks the centenary of women gaining the vote one hundred years ago through great struggle and celebrates democracy in action. Women of Note choir open the programme with a song by Ethel Smyth DBE which became famous for articulating the fundamental yet then unrealised idea that women should have a say in how the country is governed. Imprisoned for her part in the struggle, Smyth was made a Dame in 1922, the first woman composer to be recognised in this way. With musical pieces by eighteen composers including Judith Weir CBE, the first woman to be recognised as Master of the Queen’s Music, and a new commission by Lucy Pankhurst, a relative of the leading suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, tonight provides a platform for great music by extraordinarily talented composers.
After a centenary since women gained the vote we might ask what is the reality when it comes to women composers in concert performances worldwide? How far are we from real significant change? The information following DONNE’s research suggests otherwise as you can see on the opposite page. In the past, composers seem to have belonged to a gentleman’s club. This was once believed to such an extent that women composers, including Clara Schumann and Alma Mahler, then doubted whether they could even be composers for the same discriminatory reasons that men provided. Few and far between were those with views such as the enlightened male critic who once said of Cecile Chaminade, ‘this is not a woman composer; this is a composer who happens to be a woman.’ The pieces on tonight’s programme communicate part of the struggle, creative and emotional release of the past 150 years of music by women composers. Although my involvement is with the mechanics of the event, programming, fundraising, commissioning composers and working with performers, it has been a joy and a privilege to see the dedication, enthusiasm and musical brilliance of all those involved and, for a moment, to share in the lives and stories of composers past and present. I would like to express my thanks to Caroline Lucas MP for her time and support, Maggie Grimsdell, Co-Producer responsible for the parts of the programme which feature Zongora and young players, publicity designer Maff Littlemore, the musicians whose commitment to this project has been outstanding, and all the composers. We would also like to thank composers’ families and supporters for helping this project to happen, and helping MOOT bring exciting new musical voices to events in Heritage Open Day, Parliament Week and Brighton & Hove Black History Month. Enjoy the concert.
Norman Jacobs – artistic director/series producer MOOT - music of our time (Registered Charity no. 1169015)
To learn more about MOOT see www.musicofourtime.co.uk
Did you know that Parliament hosts tours throughout the year? Visit www.parliament.uk/visiting for more information.
An image of composer Morfydd Owen circa 1915
C E L E B R A T I N G
Women Composers
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Celebrating Women Composers Saturday, November 17, at 7.30pm · St George’s Church, Brighton
ETHEL SMYTH (1858-1944, b. Sidcup, Kent, d. Woking) The March of the Women (1911) 4’ Women of Note directed by Cara Barseghian with Zongora Piano Group players Naomi Grayburn, Maggie Grimsdell, Jannet King and Kathy Palmer Choreography by Kay Shepherd While she was at the Leipzig Conservatory, the young Ethel Smyth met Dvorák, Grieg and Tchaikovsky as well as Clara Schumann and Brahms. In 1910 Smyth joined the Women’s Social and Political Union, a suffrage organisation, giving up music for two years to devote herself to the cause. The March of the Women became the anthem of the women’s suffrage movement. In 1912, when WSPU leader Emmeline Pankhurst called on members to break a window in the house of any politician who opposed votes for women, Smyth was one of the members who responded to Pankhurst’s call. She, Pankhurst, and a hundred other women were arrested, and she served two months in Holloway Prison. When her friend Thomas Beecham went to visit her there, he found suffragettes marching in the quadrangle and singing, as Smyth conducted them from her cell, with a toothbrush in the place of a baton. – Notes by Norman Jacobs The rousing words of The March of the Women were written by Cicely Hamilton, who was an actress and playwright as well as a founder of the Women Writers’ Suffrage League.
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This arrangement for choir and two pianos is by local composer and pianist Rebecca Ferrari. She has added a fanfare to open the March and a closing coda, in which Smyth and Hamilton’s exhortation “Shout!” rings out above the stately theme from Hubert Parry’s ‘Jerusalem’. Parry was an active supporter of the women’s movement and in 1918 gave ‘Jerusalem’ to be the official hymn of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage.
Shout, shout, up with your song! Cry with the wind, for the dawn is breaking; March, march, swing you along, Wide blows our banner, and hope is waking. Song with its story, dreams with their glory Lo! they call, and glad is their word! Loud and louder it swells, Thunder of freedom, the voice of the Lord! Life, strife—those two are one, Naught can ye win but by faith and daring. On, on—that ye have done But for the work of today preparing. Firm in reliance, laugh a defiance, (Laugh in hope, for sure is the end) March, march—many as one, Shoulder to shoulder and friend to friend. Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout!
Emmeline Pankhurst speaking to a crowd, c.1910
Hear our voices!
The long, winding path to equality When I walk through the corridors of Westminster, I’m conscious of the fact that it’s only changes in our recent history that led to me being able to take my seat in the Chamber. With this year marking the centenary of women gaining the vote, it’s an opportunity to celebrate those who so passionately fought for women’s equality, to applaud their dogged-determination to be counted, and to recognise their achievements. It’s also a reminder that there is still more to do. With women so often forgotten in history, and their achievements being underrated, or not recorded at all, celebrating women in music is an opportunity to showcase their talent, and the contribution
they make. Whether in politics, the arts, or our sciences, remembering the work of those who have gone before us is hugely important as the fight for gender equality continues. So when I walk past the broom cupboard in Parliament where Emily Wilding Davison hid overnight on the night of the 1911 census, and when I join others singing Ethel Smyth’s march for women, I’ll be remembering the fearless rulebreaking of those who played their part in gaining the vote for women, and celebrating women who have followed their passions in the face of opposition.
Caroline Lucas MP for Brighton Pavilion
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Young performers Ages 10 16 THEA MUSGRAVE (b.1928, Edinburgh; resident in USA since 1972) Excursions: The Road Hog; Fog on the Motorway; The Drunken Driver (1965) 3’ Amelie & Benedict Wade, one piano, four hands Thea Musgrave was born in Edinburgh and studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Aaron Copland in the US where, since the 1970s, she has been based. She has written major orchestral works and over a dozen operas and she has been awarded distinguished fellowships and honorary degrees, the CBE and the Queen’s Medal for Music. To mark her 90th birthday, her orchestral work Phoenix Rising was performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra at this year’s Proms, she was the guest on a recent Desert Island Discs and was Composer of the Week on BBC Radio 3. This selection from an early work (the set of eight pieces commissioned by the University of London Extra-Mural music class) is full of irregular rhythms, unexpected accents, atmospheric effects, a vivid imagination and infectious humour. – Notes by Maggie Grimsdell
LAURA SHUR (1931-2017, b. Glasgow, d. London) Ragamatazz (1989) 2’ Amelie Wade, Yolanda Hein, Maria Copley, piano six hands Laura Shur was born in Glasgow and died in November 2017. She was a noted composer, pianist and educator and she wrote over fifty works for a variety of instruments. Her acclaimed piano duets and trios have become widely known and deservedly popular; Trinity College of Music commissioned twenty of the trios for their innovative syllabus. Ragamatazz is from Concert Tunes for Three, a collection of outstanding pieces for this combination, giving each of the players equally important parts to create a wonderful, fun work. – Notes by Maggie Grimsdell We are grateful to the composer’s family for their support of this performance and attending the concert.
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NORAH BLANEY (1893-1983, b. Hammersmith, d. Pinner, London) Mister Bear (1913; words by Roy Frank Johnson) 4’ Daisy Chute soprano, Ida Pelliccioli piano Norah Blaney (on the right in the image) was famous in the 1920s for her comedy double act with the cellist Gwen Farrar. At the age of 13 Norah won a piano scholarship to the Royal Academy, moving later to the Royal College of Music where she was taught composition by Sir Charles Stanford. With the arrival of the First World War she travelled to France to perform in concert parties, set up by Lena Ashwell, a leading member of the Actresses’ Franchise League. It was on one of these trips that Norah met Gwen Farrar who became her performing partner, lover and lifelong friend. The song we are going to hear was written by Norah when she was nineteen. – Notes by Alison Child See behindthelines.info for more information
Daisy Chute
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SHENA FRASER (1910-1993 b. Stirlingshire, Scotland, d. Faversham, Kent) Hornpipe and Jig (1954) 4’ Ivo & Stuart Neame, two pianos Shena Fraser studied violin and piano at the Royal College of Music, where she was taught composition by Herbert Howells. Her lifelong interests were Women’s Institute choirs, teaching music, and helping younger musicians. To that end she wrote over a hundred published pieces for women’s voices and for piano teaching, including jazz pieces under the pseudonym Sebastian Scott. Shena founded the Faversham Subscription Concerts Society to assist younger performers, and Fraser-Enoch publications to promote younger composers. Fraser-Enoch Publications had two objectives: to publish works by young unknown composers - male or female - who couldn’t get accepted by the major publishers. Her coproprietor, Yvonne Enoch, was a piano teacher with progressive methods, who wanted to publish modern music appropriate for early piano teaching. The Hornpipe and Jig was written for Henry Wilson, Shena’s former piano professor at the Royal College of Music, for his two-piano recitals with Kathleen McQuitty to whom also the piece is dedicated. – Notes by Stuart Neame We are delighted to welcome the composer’s son and grandson who are performing this piece.
Stuart Neame
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Ivo Neame
AUGUSTA HOLMÈS (1847-1903, b. Paris, d. Paris) Les Cloches de Corneville (c.1877) 4’ Jannet King, Maggie Grimsdell, Brian Stimpson, Jonathan Wastie, two pianos Augusta Holmès was a prodigious French composer of Irish descent – her father was from County Cork. When she became a French citizen in 1871 she added the accent to her last name. She was not allowed to study at the Paris Conservatoire but became a student of César Franck and wrote many songs, operas, orchestral works and cantatas. Like many other women composers, writers and artists, she wrote her early works under a male pseudonym. She wrote the lyrics to almost all her songs and choral works, the libretto of her opera La Montagne Noire and the programmatic poems for some of her orchestral works. She was commissioned to write the Ode triomphale for the 1889 celebration of the centenary of the French Revolution, a work requiring 1,200 musicians. With poet Catulle Mendès she had five children. Three of them, grouped round a piano, were painted by Renoir; the painting is in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. This work for four pianists is a light-hearted treatment of songs from one of the most popular nineteenth-century operettas by Robert Planquette. First produced in France, it broke all box office records in London with an English libretto (known as The Chimes of Normandy), opening in 1878 and running for 705 performances, outlasting even Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. Also extraordinarily successful in New York, it enjoyed numerous productions worldwide and was adapted as a silent feature film. – Notes by Maggie Grimsdell
Zongora Piano Group www.zongorapiano.com
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JUDITH WEIR (b.1954, Cambridge) Master of the Queen’s Music O Viridissima (2015) 4’ TableMusic - Mandhira De Saram violin, Natalie Rozario cello, Ruth Herbert piano O Viridissima is a realisation/recomposition of Hildegard of Bingen’s monodic hymn, O Viridissima Virga (‘O greenest branch’). Hildegard’s melody (slightly ornamented) is heard throughout, on violin, cello or both, whilst simultaneously undergoing registral and timbral variations. Towards the end a simple tonality emerges from the pitches of the melody. Hildegard’s text (not heard in this composition) centres on Mary’s fertility translated to the world of nature. In her penultimate line, Hildegard makes the surprisingly dark remark ‘Eve rejected these things’; at this point in my realisation, the low bass registers of cello and piano are heard for the first time. Immediately after, the music briefly floats off into the stratosphere, echoing Hildegard’s closing words, ‘Now let there be praise to the highest’. – Notes by the composer This work was written as a gift for the Late Music Concert Series and was first performed by the Albany Trio on 6th June 2015. We are delighted to present this performance in the presence of the composer.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
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Judith Weir CBE (b 1954 to Scottish parents in Cambridge, England) studied composition with John Tavener, Robin Holloway and Gunther Schuller. On leaving Cambridge University in 1976 she taught in England and Scotland, and in the mid-1990s became Associate Composer with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Artistic Director of Spitalfields Festival. She was a Visiting Professor at Princeton (2001), Harvard (2004), and Cardiff (2006-13). In 2014 became the first woman to be appointed Master of the Queen’s Music. In 2015 she became Associate Composer to the BBC Singers. She is the composer of several operas (written for Kent Opera, Scottish Opera, ENO and Bregenz) which have been widely performed. She has written orchestral music for the BBC Symphony, Boston Symphony and Minnesota Orchestras. Much of her music has been recorded and is available on the NMC, Delphian and Signum labels. She blogs about her cultural experiences at www.judithweir.com.
LILIAN ELKINGTON (1900-1969, b. Birmingham, Warwickshire, d. Austria) Rhapsodie Op. 3 (1921) 4’ Mandhira De Saram violin, Ruth Herbert piano Lilian Mary Elkington began to learn the piano at the age of four and gave her first public performance at age six. She married Arthur Kennedy, violinist/violist, in 1926 and had one daughter, Mary Williams. In 1948 they moved from Birmingham to Bookham and then, in 1954, to East Horsley. She died on 13 August 1969 while on holiday in Austria. Sadly, when Arthur Kennedy remarried all of Elkington’s works were ‘disposed of’. The four works known about were found by accident in a bookshop in Worthing by the distinguished musicologist, David Brown. The four pieces recovered comprise an orchestral tone poem Out of the Mist which has been performed and recorded by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, a song and two violin and piano pieces. – Notes by Caroline Collingridge
TableMusic
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MORFYDD OWEN (1891-1918, b. Treforest, Wales, d. Oystermouth) Trio (November 1915) 7’ TableMusic – Mandhira De Saram violin, Natalie Rozario cello, Ruth Herbert piano I. The Cathedral at Liège II. The Cathedral at Rheims Premiere of new realisation commissioned for this event by Norman Jacobs with the support of The Ambache Charitable Trust Morfydd Owen’s Trio is a response to two distinct episodes at the start of the First World War: the German bombing of two monumental religious edifices in both Belgium and in France. Owen wrote under the pseudonym “Lenavanmo” as a postgraduate at the Royal Academy of Music, composing her second trio in November 1915; the first is lost, the second, heard here tonight, remains unpublished, performed previously only in Wales in the 1980’s and ‘90s. Several well-known composers wrote pieces referencing the war – including Frank Bridge, Debussy, Elgar, Stravinsky and Vaughan Williams. Were one to compare another ’war piece’ it is probably worth considering Owen’s piece alongside Alfredo Casella’s Pagine di guerra (War Pages) for piano duet, also written in 1915 and having a second movement which refers to the destruction of Rheims Cathedral. Whereas Casella applies musical reference to the past through evoking chords from Debussy’s La Cathédrale Engloutie (The Submerged Cathedral) from 1910, he reflects modernity through the mechanistic trudge of those chords. In contrast, Owen reuses material from two of her own pieces, but one that reflects on the music of J.S. Bach, German music essentially, and a cantata called Pro Patria (For One’s Country). We might see it is as if Owen is refracting culture (Kultur) to explore the destructive forces that have existed throughout European history, to the detriment of the triumphs of art and civilisation. It is as if national consciousness itself has entered into
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Morfydd Owen in 1913
the process of what Freud termed the ‘death instinct’. Having composed the piece and written out the score in neat hand, the question remains why Owen placed it in the drawer rather than revealing it for performance. Perhaps she simply did not dare let it see the light of day since the questions she raised led to such appalling conclusions. In the years that followed, Owen remained in London, moving in both artistic and political circles whilst still retaining deep links with Wales through the Charing Cross Welsh Presbyterian Church. She met D.H. Lawrence and Ezra Pound as well as Russian émigrés, leading to an attempt to study Russian and Scandinavian music on a University Fellowship. At the same time her works were finding their way to publication and she was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1918. Two years before, in 1916, she met Ernest Jones, the first British psychoanalyst and Freud biographer, leading to their marriage in February 1917. Tragically, the relationship was cut short by her death from chloroform poisoning as part of an operation necessitated by severe appendicitis whilst on holiday on the Gower in September 1918, just two months before the end of the war. Owen was buried on 11 September in Oystermouth, where her gravestone bears the inscription with lines chosen by Jones from Goethe’s Faust: ‘Das Unbeschreibliche, Hier ist’s getan’: ‘Here the indescribable is done….the Eternal feminine draws us upwards.’ – Notes by Norman Jacobs
The background to tonight’s realisation of Morfydd Owen’s Trio The first performance of this work is important for a number of reasons. I first learned about the piece when musicologist Laura Seddon presented a copy in 2014. As much as I was intrigued by the piece there was no possibility to conduct all the work necessary then to feature it the Sounds of War – Instruments of Peace series that year. However, I promised Laura that it would remain one of my aims to ensure that this important work be played but that it would feature in a concert dedicated to music by women composers. As soon as planning commenced last year for tonight’s concert I saw that this was the opportunity we had been waiting for to bring about the realisation of Morfydd Owen’s ideas and present them to the public. As the series took shape the production of score and parts was commissioned. Next I had to look for the players. When I found out that Mandhira De Saram, a regular performer at MOOT events, was playing with a women’s Trio the choice of ensemble was clear.
It seems a long time that this project has been in the pipeline but the past four years are nothing in comparison to the period of over a century since this work was first written down. My thanks to Dr Laura Seddon for introducing me to the manuscript, Ann Chance for transcribing the score and parts, Dr Ruth Herbert for noting corrections to the text, Dr Rhian Davies for sharing her insight on Owen and her music and TableMusic for studying and preparing for the premiere performance of the piece. Lastly, I would like to express my gratitude to The Ambache Charitable Trust for supporting this specific part of the project including this evening’s performance. – Norman Jacobs Discover more about Morfydd Owen and other Welsh composers at: discoverwelshmusic.com/composers/morfydd-owen/
We are grateful to the composer’s family for their support and attending the concert.
Ruins of gun powder magazine of Fort Loucin in the Fortress of Liège
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TRACY CHAPMAN (b. 1964, Cleveland, Ohio, USA) Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution (1988) 4’ HEARD Collective: Daisy Chute and Cerian, voices and instruments Tracy Chapman was raised by her mother, who recognised her love of music and, despite not having much money, bought her daughter a ukulele when she was just three years old. Chapman began playing the guitar and writing songs at the age of eight. Her first album Tracy Chapman was released in 1988, featuring the politically-charged Talkin’ ‘bout a Revolution as the opening track. The album was critically acclaimed, Chapman’s liberal politics proving to be enormously influential on American college campuses and elsewhere around the world in the late 1980s. – Notes by Norman Jacobs
Don’t you know They’re talkin’ ‘bout a revolution It sounds like a whisper….
Intermission CECILIA McDOWALL (b. 1951, London) Piano Forty (1997) 3’ Jannet King, Naomi Grayburn, Kathy Palmer, Joe Ward, two pianos This work was commissioned by the London Piano Quartet, later renamed Piano 40 after performing this work. The idea of writing for four pianists at two pianos was a challenging one. My main thoughts behind Piano Forty were all to do with finding orchestral colour and variety if I could: the lyrical, the bold, the loud, the soft. Hence the title, as in piano, forte. And of course it was a wonderful opportunity to put the spotlight on those 40 driving, dextrous digits! This evening only the final section will be performed. – Notes by the composer We are delighted to present this performance in the presence of the composer.
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AVRIL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR (1903-1998, b. South Norwood, d. Seaford, East Sussex) Impromptu in A minor “Romance de Pan”, Op. 33 (1922) 4’ Rebecca Griffiths flute, Mishka Rusdie Momen piano Gwendolen Avril Coleridge-Taylor was the daughter of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor of “Hiawatha” fame. In the music world Avril often faced discrimination due to her ethnicity as well as her gender. She was also unfairly accused of trading on her father’s reputation which is why she chose to use the pseudonym Peter Riley for many of her compositions. In 1933, she made her debut as a conductor at the Royal Albert Hall. She was the first woman to conduct the band of H.M. Royal Marines and a frequent guest conductor of the BBC Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. She was also an accomplished pianist. Avril was invited onto the inaugural flight of the Comet jet from Croydon airport to Johannesburg. She worked in South Africa for a time but, given her mixed heritage, was forced to return to England when the South African government’s segregation laws became ever more draconian. In 1957, she composed The Ceremonial March for Ghana’s independence ceremony, a significant event in African post-colonial history, which Martin Luther King also attended. Having to return to England, Avril remained in Sussex for the rest of her life, ending her days at Stone’s House, a nursing home in Seaford, where she died in 1998, aged 95. – Notes by Paul Dashwood, grandson of the composer This piece was first performed by Mr Joseph Slater on May 9, 1922 at Aeolian Hall, London We would like to express our thanks to Caroline Collingridge for rediscovering the manuscript of this piece in the Royal of College of Music Library collection. Caroline and Maggie Grimsdell gave the first performances of Impromptu at our Heritage Open Day event in September. See display on Avril Coleridge-Taylor at the back of the hall. We are grateful to the composer’s family for their support of this project.
Rebecca Griffiths
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ALMA SCHINDLER MAHLER (1879-1964, b. Vienna, d. New York) Einsamer Gang (Lonely Walk) (1899) 4’ Rozanna Madylus mezzo-soprano, Kristiina Rokashevich piano South Coast premiere After hearing Einsamer Gang, Josef Labor my musical mentor said, “A curious piece. But that doesn’t matter: it’s good.” Tuesday 24 October, 1899 entry in Alma’s diary Einsamer Gang is one of three songs composed by Alma Mahler in 1899-1900 and was written before her lessons with Alexander Zemlinsky and before her introduction in 1901 to Gustav Mahler. Einsamer Gang was tracked down by Deborah Calland and Barry Millington in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, at the University of Pennsylvania. They have made a performing edition of the song for these concerts and plan to publish it in The Wagner Journal later in the year. Alma’s Einsamer Gang was written in September 1899, when she was still under the fatherly guidance of organist and composer Josef Labor. The choice and setting of the text, by Leo Greiner, about a lonely walk through the fields, reflect Alma’s intense loneliness and unhappiness during this period. The autograph manuscript of the song, which is in the Kislak Center at the University of Pennsylvania, came to light only recently and was given its UK premiere by Rozanna Madylus and Counterpoise earlier this year. – Notes by Barry Millington We would like to thank Barry Millington for providing MOOT with a copy of this song which he discovered and whose edition is being published in the November 2018 issue of The Wagner Journal.
Lonely Walk Fields in the wind, The high ears are rocking to sleep in the evening. O close your eyes. Raw is the light, The sounds are stilled. The wind bears enjoyed things To evening’s rest. Suffered things go to sleep In your features And our silence Covers us both. Don’t interpret the stars, they speak wrongly. Don’t interpret the powers, they are silent. Don’t interpret the darkening babble of all the sounds. Drink up the quiet un-enigmatic today.
Rozanna Madylus
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Then all wishes deep inside you sleep Like faded bell chimes over the field.
REBECCA CLARKE Tiger, Tiger (1929) 4’ Rozanna Madylus mezzo-soprano, Kristiina Rokashevich piano Rebecca Clarke was born in England to an American father and a German mother. Educated at London’s Royal College of Music, she studied composition with Sir Charles Stanford (the illustrious teacher of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst); she was one of his few female students. Clarke had a long career as a professional violist; in 1913 she was one of the first women to be admitted to the Queen’s Hall Orchestra. Her Viola Sonata (1919) brought her what she called “my one brief whiff of fame.” Both the Sonata and her Piano Trio (1921) were written for (and were runners up in) competitions sponsored by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge in Pittsfield, MA. Throughout the twenties Clarke steadily wrote chamber music and songs, much of it for her fellow performers. Based in London from 1924 to 1939, she toured extensively, performed with many ensembles, and broadcast over the BBC. She spent the years of World War II in the U.S.; 1939 to 1941 was another period of compositional productivity. In 1944 she married pianist James Friskin (who had been a colleague in her Royal College years), and settled with him in New York City, where she lived until her death at age 93. While she achieved some recognition as a composer in her lifetime, Clarke often felt conflicted about composing. Her use of the pseudonym “Anthony Trent” in 1918 for her piece Morpheus for Viola and Piano, and difficulty in finding publishers for her music (even after the success of her Viola Sonata) illustrate the ways that gender affected her career trajectory and self-image as a composer. At her death she left more than 70 works unpublished and mostly unperformed. Rebecca Clarke’s Tiger, Tiger is one of three of her settings by William Blake. The poem has inspired settings from a number of composers, notably Benjamin Britten’s coolly reserved 1965 version. Clarke’s setting is arguably one of her darkest songs, deeply powerful, with swirling chromaticism bordering on expressionist, matching the text’s evocation of the erotic and the unknowable subconscious realm. Clarke probably wrote Tiger, Tiger with the English baritone John Goss in mind,as she relentlessly revised it during her romantic entanglement with him (ca. 1929-1933); she was also discouraged by a publisher’s rejection of the work; they no doubt preferred lighter fare, especially from women. The evocative passion of Tiger, Tiger suggests that Clarke deserves consideration as a major composer of twentieth century song. It first was published only in 2001. – Notes by Liane Curtis
Tiger Tiger Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night; What immortal hand or eye, Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies. Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand, dare seize the fire? And what shoulder, & what art, Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet? What the hammer? what the chain, In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp, Dare its deadly terrors clasp! When the stars threw down their spears And water’d heaven with their tears: Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee? Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night: What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
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RUTH CRAWFORD SEEGER (1901-1953, b. East Liverpool, Ohio d. Chevy Chase, Maryland) Rat Riddles from Three Songs to Poems by Carl Sandburg (1930) 3’ Rozanna Madylus voice, Elen Morgan-Williams oboe, Ida Pelliccioli piano, Miranda Davies percussion, Gabriella Noble conductor ‘Who do you think you are and why is a rat…?’ Ruth Crawford Seeger’s compositional career is strikingly divided into two phases. Her earliest material compositions, dating from about 1924, show strong influences of post- Romanticism and Impressionism… particularly the music of Scriabin. …As the composer began to work with Charles Seeger [commencing in 1929], her music became much more concentrated. Each movement is restricted to a single idea developed intensively. The financial impact of the Great Depression, meant that Ruth Crawford Seeger’s most striking compositions were written in the short space from 1927 to 1932. She recommenced composing in the late 1940s, but had completed very little at the time of her death. – Notes by Cheryl Seltzer and Joel Sachs We are delighted to present this performance in the presence of the composer’s daughter Peggy Seeger.
Gabriella Noble
LITHA EFTHYMIOU (b.1980, London) States of Ice: Diamond Dust (2011) 3’ Brian Ashworth guitar This piece is a poetic representation of the ice formation Diamond Dust. Its light, ponderous beginning utilises the guitar’s delicate timbral qualities, while the second, more aggressive section, gives rise to a more percussive texture, depicting the full gamut of qualities that constitutes this elusive state of ice. – Notes by the composer We are delighted to present this performance in the presence of the composer.
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POLINA SHEPHERD (b. 1973, Siberia, USSR: resides in East Sussex) Mit Halb Farmakhte Oygn (2018) 4‘ Premiere of new work performed by the composer Commissioned by Norman Jacobs The text of the song is by Anna Margolin, the pen name of Rosa Harning Lebensboim. Born in 1887 in Belarus, she emigrated to New York when she was eighteen. After several years of travel to Europe and the Middle East, Rosa settled in New York in 1913 where she wrote what critics have called some of the finest Yiddish poems of the early twentieth century. – Notes by the composer
With Half-Shut Eyes Seated at a table in the gray hall, Idle and anxious, wrapping myself in my shawl, I don’t look at you, do I? I don’t call you to me, do I? But my mouth is redder now, And my half-shut eyes Are smoky. But I am flooded with sound and light, And I see your face through fog and flame, And on my lips the taste Of sun and wind is sharp. But I pull myself up with a choked cry, I grow trembling, feverish, And this growing hurts.
Anna Margolin
Removed to a corner of the gray hall, In the long flaming folds of my shawl, I don’t look at you, do I? I don’t call you to me, do I? But a little painfully and deeply and blindly, With half-shut eyes I have taken you into myself.
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LUCY PANKHURST (b.1981, Liverpool) LEAD ON (2018) 9’ Premiere of new work for two pianos commissioned for this event by Norman Jacobs with the support of the RVW Trust and Hinrichsen Foundation Kristiina Rokashevich, Anna Szałucka, Ida Pelliccioli, Mishka Rusdie Momen ‘Lead On...’ is a quotational fragment, taken from ‘Dreams’ by South African author and suffragist, Olive Schreiner (1855-1920). The text is an allegory that offered inspiration and comfort to women of the early 20th century in ultimately looking forwards to a state of gender equality. Today, 100 years on, the message is still as clear and relevant, even in a contemporary context. Although the music is essentially abstract in nature, the title has a very literal purpose within the composition. Starting with just a single note (ticking at crotchet = 120 bpm to illustrate the passing of time) the music gradually evolves from this central pitch to cover the entire keyboard. Different ideas are integrated and, despite tempo changes, echoes of the first voice heard in the opening section continue throughout. Similarly, there are moments where the music moves continuously from one piano to the next, which alludes to the fact that the pursuit of equality, tolerance and understanding are not isolated events. This is a timeless, continuous issue that transcends language and physical barriers. The conversational approach between the different piano ‘voices’ is intended to demonstrate how one voice can make a huge impact on others, by setting a positive and brave example, urging others to do the same. Unfortunately, there are all too many historical examples of this in a negative context, but I have taken the positivity and urgency within Schreiner’s text as the impetus for this work. – Notes by the composer
Olive Schreiner
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VOTE 100: Celebrating Women Composers
Kristiina Rokashevich
Anna Szałucka
Ida Pelliccioli
Mishka Rusdie Momen
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ETHEL SMYTH The March of the Women Performers as before plus Caroline Lucas and Zongora piano group players
SING: Shout, shout, up with your song! Cry with the wind, for the dawn is breaking; March, march, swing you along, Wide blows our banner, and hope is waking. Song with its story, dreams with their glory Lo! they call, and glad is their word! Loud and louder it swells, Thunder of freedom, the voice of the Lord! Life, strife—those two are one, Naught can ye win but by faith and daring. On, on—that ye have done But for the work of today preparing. Firm in reliance, laugh a defiance, (Laugh in hope, for sure is the end) March, march—many as one, Shoulder to shoulder and friend to friend. Emmeline Pankhurst addressing a crowd in Trafalgar Square
Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout! Shout!
EXIT COLLECTION IN AID OF SUSSEX HOMELESS SUPPORT ‘With the arrival of the cold weather, we are already seeing an increase in the numbers of homeless in the Brighton area and without the kindness and generosity of people like you, Sussex Homeless Support would find it very difficult to continue their work.’
Providing necessary support for the local and wider community – please give generously
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Celebrating Women Composers
Performers – in order of appearance Women of Note choir Cat, Cath, Jess, Jools, Margaret, Max, Pamela, Rebecca, Rosamond and Tam are ‘Women of Note’, a Brighton-based women’s choir. With our conductor Cara and accompanist Zhanna we sing multipart arrangements of music of all styles and genres for good causes at venues in and around Brighton.
Kay Shepherd choreography Kay Shepherd works as a freelance movement director, choreographer and dance teacher. She has choreographed many musicals and operas for theatres and companies across the UK, most recently ‘Rhondda Rips it Up’ for Welsh National Opera. This is a new piece by Elena Langner, about the life of Lady Rhondda a prominent Welsh Suffragette and all round fantastic feminist. The cast, band and entire creative team was female.
Zongora Piano Group Zongora Piano Courses are designed for adult pianists who get together in a friendly and supportive atmosphere to improve their playing or re-visit previous skills, tutored by Evgenia Startseva and Yuri Paterson-Olenich. A summer school is held in the historic town of Gödöllo in Hungary and weekend courses take place at Lancing College, Sussex. The next one is 16 & 17 February, 2019. Full details on the website www.zongorapiano.com
Ida Pelliccioli piano
Ida Pelliccioli was born in Bergamo, Italy. She studied at the Nice Conservatoire de Région and atthe Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris-Alfred Cortot where she received a double diploma in interpretation and pedagogy. Since 2017, she has been receiving artistic guidance from Norma Fisher and she is one of the rare students of the cuban pianist Jorge Luis Prats. Ida has been performing throughout Europe and will make her debut in Norway and the US in 2019. Next year she is also going to record her first album.
Stuart & Ivo Neame piano duo Ivo Neame is an award-winning pianist and composer. In addition to leading his own bands, he is a vital cog in several of European jazz’s most forward-looking groups including Phronesis and the Marius Neset Quintet. He regularly performs at jazz festivals worldwide, collaborating with ensembles as diverse as the Frankfurt Radio Big Band and the London Sinfonietta. Ivo has been nominated for this year’s British Composer Awards. His father Stuart Neame is a Bach-loving organist, who last played this Hornpipe and Jig with his mother, Shena Fraser. This is the first time that Ivo and Stuart have played two pianos together.
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Mishka Rushdie Momen piano
TableMusic brings together violinist Mandhira de Saram (leader of the Ligeti quartet), awardwinning cellist Natalie Rozario plus versatile, accomplished scholar and pianist Ruth Herbert. At core a piano trio, the group break new ground with a focus on new, recent and 20th century music displaying a rich fusion of contemporary, jazz and world influences: incorporating improvisation and other instruments. Formed early in 2017, the trio have already performed original commissions from both established and emerging composers.
HEARD Collective
Daisy Chute and Cerian are multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriters who met singing backing vocals for Radiohead. Frustrated at the low percentage of females on concert lineups and in recording and writing studios, they decided to form an all-female collective celebrating women in music. Together as HEARD they accompany one another, singing and playing between them a dozen instruments and sharing their original songs and arrangements by other female songwriters.
Rebecca Griffiths flute
Rebecca, 26, born in Wales, enjoys an international career as a soloist and chamber musician. Rebecca recently graduated from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with a first class masters in music. Highlights include solo performances broadcasted on BBC Radio 3 and a solo concert at the Welsh Millennium Stadium.
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Mishka Rushdie Momen studied with Joan Havill and Imogen Cooper at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has also studied with Richard Goode and Sir AndrĂĄs Schiff, who presented her in recitals across Europe and in New York. She is additionally a committed chamber musician whose partners have included Steven Isserlis, Midori, Daniel Phillips, and members of the Endellion, Belcea, and Artemis String Quartets.
Rozanna Madylus mezzo-soprano
British-Ukrainian mezzo, Rozanna Madylus, began her vocal studies in 2008 after completing her undergraduate degree in English Literature and Philosophy at the University of East Anglia. Rozanna decided to dedicate herself to classical singing, and particularly to the world of opera, graduating from the internationally acclaimed Royal Academy Opera school. She is a Berlin Opera Academy and Georg Solti Accademia alumnus and was on the Young Artist Platform at The Oxford Lieder Festival. She has performed with various opera companies both at home in the UK and abroad, including Garsington Opera, Birmingham Opera Company, Wexford Festival Opera and Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, and is a regular recitalist on the concert platform.
Kristiina Rokashevich piano
Kristiina Rokashevich was born in Tallinn, Estonia. She studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the guidance of senior prof. Joan Havill, where she graduated with Masters of Music and Artist Diploma. Active as a solo and chamber performer as well as a devoted harpsichordist Kristiina has performed in some of the most important venues in Estonia and United Kingdom along with other European countries. Kristiina takes great pleasure in introducing classical music to a broader audience and holds numerous salon evenings, concert lectures and special musical afternoons for children.
Gabriella Noble ensemble conductor
Gabriella Noble is a conductor and singer living in London. In 2017 she graduated with a first class degree in Music from Oxford University, where she conducted Oxford University Chorus and held a conducting scholarship with Schola Cantorum of Oxford. She went on to study for an MA in solo voice ensemble singing at the University of York, where she conducted new music with the Chimera Ensemble. She currently sings with St Martin’s Voices, the National Youth Choir Fellows, and at St Cuthbert’s Church, and is forming her own flexible ensemble of singer/instrumentalists.
Elen Morgan-Williams oboe
Elen holds a scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music where she is studying with Alison Teale and Steve Hudson. Alongside her oboe studies, she also works as a sound therapist. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician across the UK, including with her wind quintet at Wigmore Hall. In 2014 she set up Yr Obo Teithio, to raise awareness of oboe playing and raise money to buy instruments for young players. She currently is Principal Oboe with the National Youth Orchestra of Wales.
Miranda Davies percussion
Miranda developed her love of percussion within the local Cambridgeshire county music service. She became an Aldeburgh Young Musician aged 14, and spent several years developing her understanding of different musical genres there, studying under Joby Burgess. While at the University of Oxford, Miranda founded and directed Oxford’s only percussion ensemble and played with leading ensembles such as the University Orchestra and the chamber orchestra now called Orchestra for the Earth (OFE).
Brian Ashworth guitar
Brian’s professional projects have included TV and radio work with composer Karl Jenkins, based at Olympic Studios in London. He continues to have a busy schedule within his varied work for the RSL music exam body, involving presentations and training of music examiners. His most recent recording (Ashworth and Rattenbury Duo) has led to an acclaimed cd (Duologue).
Polina Shepherd voice & piano
Polina Shepherd Skovoroda was born in Siberia and grew up in a home where songs were regularly sung at a family table. Now an internationally renowned performer, she brings the songs of the Steppes and the Shtetl up to date with passion and haunting soul. Her singing, though based on traditional forms, cuts a unique sound deeply rooted in east European Jewish and Russian folk song. Growing up in Tatarstan also placed her close to Islamic ornamentation and timbre which can be heard in her unique vocal style and four octave range.
Anna Szałucka piano
Anna Szałucka is an exciting Polish pianist recognized for her exceptional musicality and intense virtuosity. She completed the Bachelor Degree at the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdansk studying with Waldemar Wojtal. She then continued her studies at the Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien in piano class of Stefan Vladar and later on at the Royal Academy of Music in London under the supervision of Ian Fountain where she is currently holding a piano fellowship.
Photo credits: BBC Picture Archive (Judith Weir); Brighton Pavilion Constituency Office (Caroline Lucas MP); Stanislava Buevich (Litha Efthymiou); Rhian Davies (Morfydd Owen in 1913); Christie Dickason (Cecilia McDowall); Benjamin Ealovega (Mishka Rushdie Momen); Olga Forster (Polina Shepherd); Steve Hocking (Lucy Pankhurst); Imperial War Museum Q 87742 (photo of Liège); Bethan Jones (Morfydd Owen in 1915); Richard Kaby (TableMusic); Kaupo Kikkas (Kristiina Rokashevich); Tom Leishman (Cerian); Laura Lewis (Helen Anahita Wilson); Sara Mostert (Elen Morgan-Williams); Kate Mount (Thea Musgrave); Don Neame (Shena Fraser). All performer images unless credited are the property of the individuals. We apologise for any unintentional credit errors or omissions. They will be corrected in future editions. Sashes made by Jools Wood and banners/flags by Tamsin Knight. Programme compiled and edited by Norman Jacobs; proof-read by Will Kemp; designed by Maff Littlemore (Drawblank Design).
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MOOT: The economics behindthe themusic music MOOT: The economics behind MOOT: The economics behind the music MOOT - music of our time is a registered charity dedicated to promoting educational non-profit
MOOT We - music of public our time is a registered charity dedicated toallpromoting educational events. rely of on funding to delivercharity each project and to use our resources andnon-profit expertise to MOOT - music our time is a registered dedicated promoting educational non-profit events. We rely on public funding to deliver each project and use all our resources bring high quality concerts and educational events to the local community. events. We rely on public funding to deliver each project and use all our resources and expertise to This series has taken a educational year inconcerts the planning, fundraising and its implementation. and expertise to concerts bring high quality andtoeducational events to the local community. bring high quality and events the local community. Fundraising resulted in a total of £14,430. The piecharts below indicate how funds are raised and This series has taken a year in the planning, fundraising and its implementation. This series has taken a year in the planning, fundraising and its implementation. where they are directed. Based on venue capacity and figures the real cost value a ticket Fundraising resulted in a total of £14,430. The piecharts below indicate how fundsof are raisedisand approximately £90. Fundraising resulted in a total of £14,430. The piecharts below indicate how funds where they are directed. Based on venue capacity and figures the real cost value of a ticket is are raised and£90. where they are directed. Based on venue capacity and figures the approximately To help us continue our work please consider real cost value of a ticket is approximately £90.becoming a member, volunteering or donating by visiting musicofourtime.co.uk/members To help us continue our work please consider becoming a member, volunteering or Graphics by Ty Miller To help usbycontinue work please consider becoming a member, volunteering donating visiting our musicofourtime.co.uk/members or donating by visiting musicofourtime.co.uk/members
Graphics by Ty Miller
Graphics by Ty Miller
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VOTE 100: Celebrating Women Composers
Thank you We thank the following organisations, without whose support this series would not have occurred: Arts Council England Ambache Charitable Trust Brighton & Hove City Council Hinrichsen Foundation RVW Trust The Rebecca Clarke Society Oakley Residential Kay Shepherd, Choreographer
Special thanks to: Diana Ambache, Ambache Charitable Trust Jonathan Best, Brighton & Hove City Council Deborah Calland and Barry Millington Alison Child Caroline Collingridge Dr Liane Curtis, The Rebecca Clarke Society Paul Dashwood Dr Rhian Davies, Gregynog Festival Litha Efthymiou James Epps, Oakley Residential Professor Gavin Henderson CBE Dr Ruth Herbert Heritage Open Days Rosie Johnson MBE, RVW Trust Jackie Jones Gabriella Di Laccio, DONNE
Caroline Lucas MP Cecilia McDowall Ivo & Stuart Neame Lucy Pankhurst Caroline Preece Dr Joel Sachs, Juilliard School, New York Dr Laura Seddon, Contemporary Connections Peggy Seeger Kay Shepherd Polina Shepherd Ruth Sillers Ebou Touray, African Night Fever UK Parliament Week Judith Weir CBE Bert Williams MBE, Brighton & Hove Black History
Additional thanks to: Ackerman Music Grant Allardyce, East Sussex Music Services Nick Boston, G-Scene Cathy Boyes, BREMF Olivia Canham, Community Base
Milla Hills, Brighton & Hove Arts Diary Anna Hinton, SCIP Maria Iannacone, Thedore Presser Company, USA David Ingledew. Pianos Daniel Lauro Sarah Jane Lewis, VIVA magazine Peter Linnitt, Royal College of Music Library Maff Littlemore, Drawblank Design Louise Millard, Brighton Jubilee Library Ann Miller Music Engraving Luzia Norman, Visit Brighton Daria Robertson Chris Ryan and Doug Smith, St George’s Church Sandra Shorr Catherine Stead, Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra John Warner, Orchestra for the Earth Harry Weston, Maxx Media Marie-Louise Zervides, Music Sales Group
Rik Child, Brighthelm Community Centre
Cesare & Rebecca Ferrari, Naomi Grayburn, Brian & Felicity Stimpson
Liz Collis, Brighton Pavilion Constituency
Benslow Music Library
Dr Evelyn Ficarra, University of Sussex
Sussex Police
Guildhall School of Music & Drama
GENIE Print
All the musicians and volunteers participating in this project
Celebrating Women Composers 2018 MOOT is a registered charity (no. 1169015) promoting contemporary music arts education MOOT – music of our time, Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 3XG C E L E B R A T I N G
Women Composers
Patrons: Alexander Waugh, Dr Paul Whittaker OBE (Music and the Deaf) Committee: Norman Jacobs; Georgina Bowden; Thomas Jones; Will Kemp MOOT is associated with partner groups:
THE BRIGHTON PHILHARMONIC AT BRIGHTON DOME October 2018 – March 2019 An array of world-class musicians including Freddy Kempf & Steven Osborne (piano), Thomas Carroll (cello), Tamsin Waley-Cohen (violin) & Ben Gernon (conductor) join the Brighton Phil for their popular Sunday afternoon concert season and traditional New Year’s Eve Viennese Gala at Brighton Dome. Tickets £12.50-£39.50 (50% student/U18 discount) from Brighton Dome Ticket Office in person, by telephone (01273) 709709 and online: www.brightondome.org Discounted parking for BPO concerts at NCP Church Street Car Park (£6 between 1-6pm).
The Brighton Phil are delighted to offer MOOT supporters the best available seats for just £21 - simply quote promotional code MOOT21. Not valid against tickets already purchased. No further discounts available.
Residential Courses • Summer Schools • Workshops Folk • Classical • Jazz • Early Wind • String • Keyboard • Composing • Conducting Expert Tuition • Beginner to Advanced Levels 30 minutes from London • Tranquil Retreat Benslow Music, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 9RB E: info@benslowmusic.org T: 01462 459446 W: www.benslowmusic.org