Cacophony is committed to doing its bit to advocating for women composers and promoting their music. It’s much easier to be a female composer in the 21st Century, but historically it’s been as hard for women to have a career in music as in other fields. Here’s all the Cacophony episodes featuring music by women, all in one place.
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152. An injection of flavour and joy: Nohl, Spices
Hot off the press! The wonders of modern tech allow us to enjoy Katharina Nohl’s rhapsody for piano and orchestra, Spices, before its even been performed by live musicians! And Katharina joins us to talk us through the recipe. (33 mins)… Listen
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If plankton made music what would it sound like? Norway: Maja S K Ratkje
Maja S K Ratkje joins Cacophony at the Women’s World Cup to explore the fun and joy of writing music and choose pieces by her Norwegian colleagues. But there must be something in the Norwegian water, as there’s the same tiny inspiration for several of the composers! [31 mins]… Listen
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Music from a global melting pot: Brazil / Gabriella di Laccio
Singer, Gabriella di Laccio is our guide to music by women from Brazil – a melting pot of traditions and cultures that ends up with music that sounds… Brazilian! It’s Cacophony… at the Women’s Football World Cup! (Listening time 47′)… Listen
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Music with intention, for those with an open mind. Canada: Melissa Hui
We turn to Canada, where Melissa Hui’s selection is typically diverse with living composers who are first nations, Canadian born and immigrant.
Melissa brings her thoughtfulness and insight to a playlist that might challenege our perceptions, but will leave us satisfied.… Listen
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“Music is integral, it’s like breathing”: Roxanna Panufnik/ England
It’s Cacophony… at the Women’s Football World Cup! A glorious celebration of music from around the world, all written by women, and chosen specially for Cacophony by leading female musicians.
This episode focusses on England, with Roxanna Panufnik’s choice of rich and satisfying pieces from a line up of stellar composers.
We shift the focus to England, with Roxanna Panufnik’s choice of rich and satisfying pieces from a line up of stellar composers.… Listen -
Living through the ups and downs of creation: Elena Kats-Chernin/ Australia
It’s Cacophony… at the Women’s Football World Cup! Elena Kats-Chernin presents her choices of music from Australia – composers who all work hard and write music of vitality, invention, intensity and often fun!… Listen
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Mountains, olives and the vastness of existence: Spain/ Inés Medina-Fernández
It’s Cacophony… at the Women’s Football World Cup! A glorious celebration of music from around the world, all written by women, and chosen specially for Cacophony by leading female musicians.
In this epsiode, Inés Medina Fernández presents her choices of music from Spain, carefully chosen from accross the country and including famous musical names we might know – but pieces we definitely won’t!
Listening time: podcast 24mins, music playlist 20 mins… Listen
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150. Nine is the magic number! Farrenc, Nonet
By turns grand and genial with moments of great inventiveness and wit, Louise Farrenc’s Nonet for wind and strings is a bit of magic!
Listening time 37 mins (podcast 7′, music 30′)… Listen
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147. Music in the blood and poetry in the soul: Williams, Penillion
A rarity from Wales (a Welsh rare-bit?), Grace Williams’s orchestral piece Penillion surprises, delights and has an epic grandeur. It’s terrific stuff and I think you’ll love it! (25 mins)… Listen
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146. Risk and adventure: Tower, Fanfare for the uncommon woman
Another great, short piece, here’s the first of Joan Tower’s Fanfares celebrating risk-taking and adventurous women. This is both celebratory and substantial, plus a workout for brass and percussion. Listening time 8 mins (podcast 5.5′, music 2.5′)… Listen
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143. Genesis and Resurrection: Fanny Mendelssohn, Easter Sonata
Lost for 150 years and then, because it was so good, presumed to have been written by her brother, Fanny Mendelssohn’s Easter Sonata for piano is passionate, intense, lyrical and dramatic… and the story of its rediscovery is no less compelling. Listening time c36 mins… Listen
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140. Hidden pigeons & dancing farmers: Kaprálová, Rustic Suite
Packed with memorable Czech songs about pigeons, nightingales, love, life and unploughed fields, Vítěslava Kaprálová’s Rustic Suite mixes countryside charm with the confident orchestral swagger of a 23 year old receiving acclaim in Paris and London. Music full of life and good tunes! Listening time 21mins… Listen
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139. Escaping to a happier place: Tailleferre, Little Suite
Small but perfectly formed, Germaine Tailleferre’s Little Suite is seven minutes of innocent delight from a composer looking to escape from the trials of a difficult life. It may be short, but it’s packed with memorable tunes and a joyous spirit. Irresistible!
Listening time c14 minutes … Listen -
133. A woman on the money: Clara Schumann, Piano Trio
Urbane sophistication mixes with poetry and drama in Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio, her biggest piece from a small catalogue of great music. Better known in recent times as the wife of Robert Schumann, it was Clara who was an international star as the leading pianist of their day. It was composing, though, that brought her the greatest joy and her music is full of deep inspiration and honesty. Listening time … Listen
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132. The strange disappearence of Emilie Mayer: Mayer, Symphony no.7
Brand new old music in this episode: a great forgotten symphony by a composer forgotten for around 150 years, Emilie Mayer. It’s memorable, tuneful and inventive – a real discovery! Listening time 48’… Listen
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126. Into a black hole… and out the other side? Thovaldsdottir, Metacosmos
Carrying a fragile flower whilst walking a tightrope. Finding the balance between beauty and chaos. Being pulled along by forces outside of our control. On Cacophony we talk about ‘diving into great music’: Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Metacosmos might be the biggest dive yet – into a black hole! Universal and yet personal, her music is distinctive, compelling, moving and profound. [23mins]… Listen
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120. A forgotten French flower: Bayon Louis, Overture ’Mayflower’
Another forgotten gem from a late 18th century woman composer, Marie Emmanuelle Bayon Louis’s overture to d’Épine, Mayflower, is boisterous and brilliant.… Listen
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114. Direct to you from London: Urban Living, Shirley J Thompson
A mix of grit, swagger and persistence help us to make it through in the big city. Shirley Thompson’s Urban Living gives us all this plus, perhaps, a tinge of fear and some pheonmenal piano sounds in 7 minutes of [mainly] self-assured city beats. Listening time 12 mins (podcast 5′, music 7′)… Listen
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111. Glimpses of the Divine: Esmail, Darshan
Comfortably crossing cultural boundaries, Reena Esmail draws on both western and Indian , composer Reena Esmail draws on both western and Indian traditions to write distinctive music that is at home in both. Darshan is a terrific solo violin piece which transports us to a timeless state ad may even offer a glimps of the divine! Listening time 21mins… Listen
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107. Made in America: Florence Price, Symphony No.1
Individual, passionate, soulful music rooted in the southern states, Florence Price’s Symphony No.1 was the first by a black woman composer to be played by a major US orchestra back in the 1930s. A Moment of History, but those ‘twin handicaps’ [her words] meant that her music has hardly been played since and we’ve been missing out on great music from a distinctive voice – it’s time to put that right! (Listening time 47 mins: podcast 8′, music 39′)… Listen
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103. Tis the season for watching box sets: Wiseman: Wolf Hall
One of my favourite things on TV in recent years has been Wolf Hall. Debbie Wiseman’s haunting and memorable music brilliantly captures all the tension, mood and atmosphere. [25 mins]… Listen
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95. A dying woman’s cry from the abyss: Boulanger, Psalm 130
Powerful and moving, Lili Boulanger’s cry From the Bottom of the Abyss (Psalm No.130) shows her deep commitment to her faith, and to her music-writing, in the face of illness. Diana Ambache, long-time champion of women composers, joins me to talk about Boulanger’s short life, major talent and this subtle masterpiece for huge choir and orchestra. Listening time 42mins (Podcast 18′, Music 24′)… Listen
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87. Dancing in the Dark? Anna Clyne: This Midnight Hour
Come on the fantastic – and fantastical – musical adventure that is Anna Clyne’s This Midnight Hour. You’ll be thrilled, excited, maybe a bit scared, ultimately consoled… or maybe not! What does this great music do to you? (Listening time 19 mins)… Listen
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81. Politics, protest and a bit of opera – Ethel Smyth, The Wreckers
Democracy and our rights, that earlier generations fought and went to prison to obtain, are fragile and always need to be looked after closely. Ethel Smyth’s life and terrific music serve as a good reminder to us all that we need to be ready to stand up and make our voices heard in order to make change happen. (19mins)… Listen
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75. Four go to the Beach Club! Amy Beach – String Quartet
American composer Amy Beach was so popular that her followers held ‘Beach Clubs’ to play and listen to her music!
Her Quartet for strings is lean and powerful, as well as being a great jump-off to the world of string quartets: a place fraught with danger for the players, where composers go to bare their souls. Take a listen and join the Beach Club! (21 mins)… Listen -
68. An unheard masterpiece from a forgotten master: Henriëtte Bosmans
You almost certainly won’t have heard this great piece or have heard of its writer. Henriëtte Bosman’s wrote her Concert Piece for violin and orchestra for her fiancé, who died before he could play it. Violinist Marina Solarek, tells the story of an amazing, passionate woman, a life and career interrupted by the Nazis, her intense and passionate concerto, and why it’s still so hard to hear great music by women composers. And the great music shows us that we’re missing out. Listening time 36 mins… Listen
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64. An Equal Music? France’s first great woman composer – Louise Farrenc, Symphony No. 3
This is a rarity on two counts – it’s a really good French symphony from the 1800s, and it’s written by a woman! The brilliant, Symphony No.3 by Louise Farrenc. 43 mins… Listen
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58. An extraordinary life and timeless music: Hildegard of Bingen – one of the first known composers
Visionary, mystic, scientist, naturalist, medic, nun and more: Hildegard of Bingen, born 1098, is also one of the very first known composers – and savvy enough to preserve her legacy! Her life was extraordinary in any era and her music is timeless, moving and special. Listening time = 17mins (intro conversation 7′, music 10′)… Listen
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Lockdown Music 17: Pianist, prodigy, wife, mother, composer – meet Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was not only a brilliant and successful internationally famous pianist but found time to write music as well as support her husband, composer Robert Schumann, and raise a massive family. Her Three Romances for piano are great: intimate, … Listen
