Music 301/501 Women in Music A Few 20th Century Composers

20th Century Avant Garde: Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953)  Born in Ohio; very conservative upbringing  Arm problems steered her into composing  Made many important contacts in Chicago, e.g. Henry Cowell, that led to immersion in both avant garde and folk music, styles which dominated her compositions  Studied with Charles Seeger (her future husband) confirmed dissonant, serial trends in her work  Received a Guggenheim in 1930; first woman and one of only five up to 1945  Earlier works very avant garde  serialized sets (Schoenberg),  sound mass (Varèse), clusters, intense dissonance  From Late 30’s on, most works based on folk songs; interest arose from study of Cowell’s ideas  Example of earlier style: Violin Sonata (1926) Rebecca Clark (1886-1979)  English born (Harrow) into a musical family  Studied violin from age 8, later concentrated on viola and became touring soloist  Began composing songs age 17  Studied composition at Royal College of Music from age 21  One of the first women members of a professional orchestra in London  Won composition contests in Europe and America, e.g. for Viola Sonata, 1919  Some works published under male pseudonym Anthony Trent. She admitted publishers paid more attention to those than some of the works under her name  Compositions included songs and chamber music  Her music is “English” in the use of folk songs and modal harmony  Example: Trio for Violin, Cello, and Piano (1921) Ellen Taafe Zwilich (b. 1939 in Miami)  Non-musical but supportive family; played piano, violin, trumpet  Educated at Florida State; further study after graduation in NYC (Ivan Galamian)  Free-lanced in NYC as violinist, but always wanted to be a composer; by early 20’s she had heard many of her works (also unusual)  Received doctorate in Composition from Juilliard (first woman to receive this degree) in 1975; teachers were Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions  Music usually categorized as “neo-romantic,” using large genres and resources in large sound sweeps, but developed further beyond harmony of romantics  Her success is probably as high as almost any other living composer, man or woman  Example: Einsame Nacht (“Lonely Night”): songs 3 and 4  Text by Hermann Hesse, existentialist; translations Jezic p. 178  Example: Symphony No. 1 (originally Three Movements for Orchestra), 1982  The composition that won her the Pulitzer Prize in 1983  Great exploitation of range of colors in orchestra st  First 15 bars of 1 movement serve as basis for the entire work, emphasizing the interval of the third.