Today (8 March 2022) is International Women’s Day and I want to celebrate it by bringing you some exquisite chamber music by two exceptional female composers who are criminally neglected in the concert programming world.

Clara Schumann was the wife of the German composer Robert Schumann. She was born on 13 September 1819 in Leipzig, Germany and died 0n 20 May 1896 in Frankfurt, Germany. She was a pianist, composer, and piano teacher and was much admired by a young Johannes Brahms who confided in her for many years. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she 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. She also composed solo piano pieces, a piano concerto (her Op. 7), chamber music, choral pieces, and songs. She grew up in Leipzig, where her father, Friedrich Wieck, was a pianist and teacher, and her mother, Mariane, was a pianist, singer, and piano teacher.

Her contemporary, Fanny Mendelssohn was the elder sister of Felix Mendelssohn who was four years younger than her. She was born in Hamburg in 1805 into a very wealthy family. Their father Abraham was a banker and took particular care in the education of his children, who had the privilege of a very high profile cultural (not just musical) education in Berlin, where the family moved in 1812. Fanny and Felix studied composition with Karl Zelter, who gave them an excellent foundation in contrapuntal technique, and piano with Ludwig Berger, a pupil of Hummel. Fanny was also a piano virtuoso and often performed in Sunday domestic concerts in their Berlin home, also in duo with her brother Felix. Only in 1845 did Fanny decide to publish her first composition under her own name, since she had always been discouraged (not to say opposed) in her public activity as a composer, by her brother and the rest of her family. Her father even wrote to her in a letter dated 16 July 1820: “Music will perhaps become his [Felix’s] profession, while for you it can and must be only an ornament”. It seems a ridiculous attitude these days doesn’t it? Unfortunately those attitudes do still persist in many (most) fields which saddens me greatly. How much brilliant music is lost to us because of stupid attitudes and prejudice?

They were both, as I mentioned, renowned as piano virtuosos and wrote a lot of solo pieces for that instrument. However the music I want to share with you here are their Piano Trios and the String Quartet by Fanny Mendelssohn.

All three are superb example of the genre and should be heard more often.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Keith.

Clara Schumann – Piano Trio in G Minor, Op. 17

Thomas Hoppe, piano

Annette von Hehn, violin

Stefan Heinemeyer, cello

Fanny Mendelssohn – Piano Trio in D Minor, Op. 11

Ya-Ting Chang, piano

Peter Sirotin, violin

Fiona Thompson, cello

Fanny Mendelssohn – String Quartet in E Flat Major

Bailey Wantuch & Megan Rohrer, violins

Susan Bengtson, viola

Hana Takemoto, cello