French Female Composers in History
Women's Contributions to Classical Music Composition
Some interesting facts and information about several French women composers who were born before the year 1900.
The following are some interesting and informative facts about French women who played a role in the development of classical composition before the year 1900.
Composer Facts
Composer Marie Quinault was awarded the Order of St. Michael by the King of France for her compositions.
The celebrated composer Natalie Boulanger was awarded the Maitre de Chapelle of H.H. The Prince of Monaco, and was the first woman to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, England.
Composer Caroline Wuiet was pronounced a musical prodigy at the age of 5, and her musical education was supervised by Queen Marie Antoinette.
French composer Germaine Tailleferre was the first and only female member of the musical society Les Six (Durey, Auric, Milhaud, Honneger and Poulenc).
Notable Composers
Louise Angelique Bertin was born in Roche, February 15, 1805 and died at Paris, April 26, 1877. She was a pianist, composer, contralto and an artist, who had studied composition with Fetis. Guy Mannering, her first opera, was performed privately, but her second, Le Loup Garou, performed in Paris, was an instant success, as were Faust (1831) and La Esmeralda (1836), with text by Victor Hugo.
Bertin went on to compose in various genres, including songs, choruses and string quartets. She was the author of a collection of verse, Les Glances, Paris, 1842, for which she was awarded a prize from the French Academy.
Lili Boulanger
Lili Juliette Marie Olga Boulanger (born 1893, died 1918), the younger sister of Nadia Boulanger, won the Grand Prix de Rome while a student of the Paris Conservatoire. She composed the cantata Faust et Helene, symphonic poems D'un Soir Triste and D'un Matin de Printemps, two psalms with orchestra, and a string quartet.
Selections from her song cycle Clarieres dans le Ciel and Nocturne have been recorded on the Gemini Hall label. She died at the age of 25, leaving a legacy of several fine compositions for such a young person.
Cecile Chaminade
Cecile Louise-Stephanie Chaminade was born at Paris in 1857 and died at Monte Carlo in 1944. She began composing at the age of 8 and during her long lifetime she composed many works of merit, including salon pieces for piano...one of which, "The Scarf Dance"...became very famous; songs, a Concertstueck for piano and orchestra; a Concertino for flute (which also became famous); a ballet "Callirhoe"; orchestral suites and the opera-comique "La Sevillane." Her "Caprice Espagnole," Op.67, was recorded on the Gemini Hall label.
Germaine Tailleferre
Germaine Tailleferre was born at Pau-St.-Maur in April of 1892 and was a student of composition with Maurice Ravel. Her works encompassed every genre and type of music, including quartets, violin sonatas, a piano concerto, ballets, a concerto for two pianos, voice and orchestra, and many other works.
Her "Chansons Francaises," for voice and instruments was performed at the Liege Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music in 1930. A Concertino for harp and Orchestra was performed by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1927.
This remarkable group of French women composers worked side by side with their male counterparts in the making of great music.
Source
"Women of Notes: 1,000 Women Composers Born Before 1900." Richards Rosen Press, NY,1978
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