For centuries, as with a myriad of other things women weren’t allowed to do, men prevented women from composing music on the assumption that women were incapable of high art. However, some classical women composers broke the rules by creating their own musical legacies, and this genre of music is better for it.
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) presented its women-only composers program on April 5th at The Huntington. As Concertmaster Margaret Batjer reminded the audience, women were frequently referred to as “ornamental,” not worthy of recognition in the music world.
Witness Batjer’s story of Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, sister of famed composer Felix Mendelssohn. In her youth, Fanny’s talent was recognized by her parents, and she was given the same musical education as her younger brother. They both created a “Mendelssohnian” sound, but she was able to carve out her own distinctive approach to composition.
Because her music was written mostly for her own use (maybe not by her own choice), she was able to experiment and did not have to worry about critics who weren’t going to know of her compositional efforts anyway.
“To make things even more bleak,” relates Batjer, “her father published many of her over 400 compositions under Felix’s name.”
Hold for the audience’s gasp.
“Her String Quartet in E-flat major is absolutely brilliant. It’s one of my favorites – passionate, full of virtuosic qualities, and really heartbreakingly beautiful,” said Batjer.
Also on the program was the work of Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann’s beloved wife. By all accounts, she was one of the most brilliant pianists of her generation. And besides having eight children (another audience gasp), Batjer continues, “she also found time to compose. Although her main success in life came as a pianist, she left us her wonderfully rich and beautiful compositions. Unlike Fanny Mendelssohn, she had the unwavering support of her husband.”
Clara Schumann’s composition, Three Romances, Op. 22 is a series of small pieces that show a “musical and tender ingenuity,” according to Batjer. “But to have eight children and a husband who performs was not conducive to composing. She could not work at it regularly.”
Clara Schumann was the primary breadwinner for the family, earning money touring Europe and composing. She set new standards for performance that continue to be utilized today. One example is playing piano concertos and recitals from memory.
“I’m often deeply disturbed,” says Batjer, “to think how many profound ideas were simply lost because Clara didn’t have time to work them out. The work you’re going to hear tonight was inspired by Robert’s birthday.”
Representing more modern women chamber music composers, LACO chose Nokuthula Ngwenyama and Sarah Gibson for the innovative program.
Ngwenyama has built a successful international career as a viola soloist, recitalist, and composer.
“Ngwenyama is someone I’ve known and admired for many, many years,” says Batjer. “She grew up in LA and attended the Crossroads School, where she had a very successful career as a violist and composer. She has performed at the White House and has spoken to Congress in support of the National Endowment for the Arts. Her composition, Down, has centered rich and resonant timbres, reflecting her early obsession with the depth of the viola’s sound.”
Featured pianist and composer Sarah Gibson was a hugely talented musician whose work combined “grace, invention, lyricism and prismatic color,” says Batjer. Gibson, 38, died in July 2024 from cancer. Commissioned by LACO’s “Sound Investments Initiative,” Gibson composed a score in 2022 entitled warp & weft in a collaborative process that incorporated opinions from donors and musicians. It was played by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow, conducted by Gemma New. Gibson was the recipient of multiple prizes, awards, and commissions throughout her young life. Her works have been recorded and performed at various prestigious venues across the United States and in Europe.
“Last year, during the planning for this concert, Sarah asked what else was going to be on tonight’s program,” says Batjer. “It was important to her to make her piece work organically with the program. I mentioned the Claire Schumann Romances to her, and she loved the idea.”
Gibson’s work for the program, I do not want horses or diamonds, is inspired by a letter Clara Schumann wrote to Robert. In it, Schumann said that all she wanted was a simple and happy life, not one where she needed to be spoiled or surrounded by expensive things (sigh).
“Sarah uses a single chord progression from the Romances in her quintet,” says Batjer. “I want to dedicate this performance to her memory – an extraordinary woman who had so much more life, music, laughter, and inspiration ahead of her that we can only imagine what was to come.”
Concluding the ambitious estrogen-laden program was a composition by piano prodigy and touring soloist Louise Farrenc, a less familiar name than Mendelssohn or Schumann. She was a French composer and virtuoso pianist who showed tremendous talent for both piano and composition at a very early age. However, because women in 1820 were forbidden to enroll in traditional composition classes at the Paris Conservatoire (gasp), they had to study privately and at home.
Farrenc had the technical expertise and a deep understanding of music that allowed her to stand alongside her male colleagues, even when her achievements were overlooked and overshadowed.
“In 1842, society came to its senses,” says Batjer, “and Farrenc was awarded a permanent position as piano professor at the Paris Conservatoire and held that position for thirty years. She thrived in the chamber music genre. You are going to hear this evening one of her most famous and successful works, Nonet, Op.38. It is scored for string quartet and wind.”
Sarah Gibson Foundation Commission Award announced
In a surprise announcement, Aaron Fullerton, Gibson’s widower, announced the award for the Sarah Gibson Foundation commission for 2025.
“Sarah had a really beautiful vision that the new music scene was inclusive, vibrant, and thoughtful,” he remarked, “built on the cornerstones of mentorship and investment in opportunities for young musicians.”
“The Sarah Gibson Foundation was launched in August of last year to help bring that vision to reality,” he continued. “Tonight, I am really proud and honored to announce our first commission award to composer Julia Moss, who will write a string sextet that will premiere in November 2025. I feel really confident saying Sarah would have been a fan, not only of Julia’s talent but of her passion.”
Moss is a violist who describes herself as a composer “who explores the subconscious through surrealist storytelling, intersecting systems of power, and its effects on the human connection.”
She has collaborated with various choreographers and dancers from USC’s Kaufman School of Dance and is a Composer Teaching Artist Fellow for LACO. She recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Music Composition from the University of Southern California (USC) Thornton School of Music.
