Customer Reviews

Women of Note ~ Beach, Boulanger, Clarke, Gubaidulina, Larsen, Mendelssohn, Monk, Musgrave, Ran, Zwilich

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This is a great collection of works from 19th and 20th century women composers. Keep in mind, it is only a small sample of what's available, but an excellent place to start. It is also a good choice if you are a teacher wanting to introduce women composers to your class and do not want to invest in dozens of CDs. There are no large-scale works on this CD, so it is ideal as a sampler (or for use with kids in a classroom setting). I highly recommend this CD.

A top-notch sampling of mainly 20th-century music by women composers, including Lili Boulanger and Pulitzer Prize-winners Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Shulamit Ran, this cd proves that the music has been excellent all along. What we have needed are good recordings of superior performances. The samples often are brief--e.g., a single movement from Clarke's cello sonata--yet do provide jumping off points for more concentrated pursuit of favorite composers. Those uninitiated in women's works will become familiar here with some of the best of the last 150 years: Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Thea Musgrave, and on and on. I hope every author of a text on music since 1840 will come to know and adore this cd, then include the music in their discussions of music history. It's about time!