Over the centuries, many of history’s most important women composers were forced to publish under male pseudonyms. Across the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, dozens of women composers adopted masculine or gender-neutral identities so their work would be reviewed
Latest article
Spotlight
-
Federico Mompou January 31st, 2011 Cancons i danses (1962) 12 Preludes (1960) Variations sur un theme de Chopin (1957) Federico (Frederic) Mompou (1893-1987) was one of the greatest Spanish composers of the 20th century. A Catalan by birth, he studied and appeared on stage in -
Chinese repertoire or not Chinese repertoire? January 28th, 2011 The following is a fictional story. Any resemblance to actual individuals or events is purely coincidental. An internationally renowned conductor is invited to lead the New Year concert at one of the most prestigious halls in China. The maestro kindly -
Three times Mozart January 25th, 2011 Pushkin’s Mozart and Salieri is a fantastic exploration of the nature of artistic creation. This short blank verse drama, written in 1830, has been re-told many times (notably by Rimsky-Korsakov in his 1898 opera of the same name and by -
Blindness and Musical Talent January 21st, 2011 He is the youngest person to have his US number 1 hit at the age of 13. He has had over 100 million albums sold, over 30 U.S top-ten hits, 25 Grammies, 10 US number-one hits on the pop charts, -
Concert Review from Geneva January 7th, 2011 Geneva, 27th November 2010. A year so dominated by the economic downturn in the West and the rise of China epitomized by the Shanghai Expo in the East, few may have noticed that this year marks the 170th birthday of -
Does it take incredible intelligence to produce a music genius? January 7th, 2011 The musical genius of Beethoven, though witnessed over 200 years ago, is still deeply admired by many because Ludwig van Beethoven once described his talent saying, “I keep a thought in my mind for a very long time. I am -
Bach, the composer as intellectual January 6th, 2011 Bach, the composer as intellectual by Marco Moraes But all at once it dawned on me that this Was the real point, the contrapuntal theme; Just this: not text, but texture; not the dream But topsy-turvical coincidence, Not flimsy -
A Tale of Two Cities January 6th, 2011 A tale of two cities. I have no idea when this handy name came about, but it is now used by the literati to compare pairs of cities like Shanghai and Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou, and