When discussing the recent history of American music, it would be remiss to not mention the name Ruth Crawford Seeger. Her contributions as an educator to budding composers, as well as her contemporary compositions and research in folk traditions, are hugely...
The life of Francesca Caccini (1587- after 1641) provides another example of a woman fortunate to be born into a family supportive of her musical pursuits. Caccini’s father was an accomplished musician, composer, and educator and gave his daughter every opportunity...
The Performing Arts Department of the Library of Congress publishes a semi-regular blog titled In the Muse. The blog has great information featuring items that are held in D.C. and are available for perusal. A Music Cataloger at the LOC, Laura Yust, was a recent...
In what I’m sure was, and continues to be, a massive undertaking, the New York Philharmonic is digitizing their archives to make available online to anyone interested. The benefit to researchers, amateur and professional alike, is truly fantastic! The project, which...
The most recent work by R. Larry Todd, one of the foremost scholars of the Mendelssohn family, turns the attention away from Felix and to his older sister, Fanny. The book, entitled Fanny Hensel – The Other Mendelssohn pays credit to the all too often neglected life...
As we are getting settled into a new concert season and all the anticipated performances, particularly of work by women composers, it’s also a good time to look back on the historical precedent of American ensembles performing works composed by women. I. Where to...
