Anna Beer inspecting the lives of eight exceptional women composers in Western classical music. It starts with Francesca Caccini (1587 – 1641) and ends with Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994). Beer’s narrative style is clear and vivid, it was nearly impossible to put down the book once I started to read it.
Gender inequality reflected at best on the life of Felix Mendelssohn and Fanny Hensel. They were at the same starting point, raised by the same parents, both educated and very talented, but two different fates, namely man and woman.
Beer also demonstrates how flourishing could life be for both man and woman by pointing out the supportive husbands : Marin la Guerre (the organist at Saint-Chapelle), Wilhelm Hensel (painter) and William LeFanu (librarian).
It is very thoughtful of Beer to share her “Music Playlist” with us. To amateur like me, I appreciate this music guide very much. How amateur am I? I only have heard about Fanny Hensel and Clara Schumann before I read this book.
If you love western classical music, this book is a compulsory read. Otherwise, this book is still highly recommended. The 8 extraordinary protagonists displayed how to not find excuses to be true to one’s talent. Be it domestic responsibility, prejudice, social rules, poverty, richness, wartime, illness and etc. nothing had stopped them to compose.
“Get your work out there.” Amy Beach (1867 – 1944)
A gender-balanced concert on 12.4.2021 at 1:00 PM in Wigmore Hall, London, UK. A song concert theme on the German poet Heinrich Heine’s lyrics.
The season of roses is arriving, let’s listen to “Why are all the roses so pale” by Fanny Hensel (music) and Heinrich Heine (lyric).