Tag: Nadia Boulanger
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International Women’s Day and the Boulanger Sisters
Today is International Women’s Day! And to celebrate, today’s post is about two sisters who made an international impression during their lives, and after. Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) and Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) were French natives, and sisters who were born into a musical family and greatly supported by their parents in their musical endeavors. Even from…
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Happy Birthday, Nadia Boulanger!
Today is the 124th birthday of composer, conductor, and educator Nadia Boulanger. I was actually reminded of this on my morning commute by my local independent radio station, WDIY, who did a birthday tribute to Nadia by playing works of some of her most famous pupils. I have included here Nadia’s Fantasy for Piano and…
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NPR’s “Biggest Badass Composers”
NPR’s Deceptive Cadence picked up on a twitter feed recently questioning which composer is the “biggest badass”, with qualifications to include drugs, sex, guts and politics. The list of composers included (surprise!!!) no women. Though the list, which was compiled here, did include Carlo Gesualdo, a late Renaissance composer who is remembered for his madrigals,…
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Remembering Vítězslava Kaprálová
I will finish the WPA tribute to historic female composers by remembering the life and music of Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940). Though she lived a tragically short life, she made a dramatic impact as a composer and conductor. Czech by birth, Kaprálová studied at the Brno Conservatory and well as abroad with (among others) Nadia Boulanger.…