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Cumbrian Society of Organists |
Our next event is on Satruday 28 June, 2pm, at Cartmel Priory when Adrian Self will present a lecture/recital on Organ music by women composers 1730-1968.
The vast majority of the organ music we play was written by men, but ignoring the enormous contribution made to the repertoire by women composers will be our loss. This presentation will try to
redress the balance and shine a light on composers who may not be so well known but who have produced a rich seam of work for our instrument.
We will start with music by Elisabetta de Gambarini (1730-65) and Anna Bon (1739-67) and sample works by Theophania Cecil (1782-1879), Clara Schumann (1819-96) and two little-known English composers Elizabeth Stirling (1819-95) and Elizabeth Mounsey (1819-1905) before exploring some superb pieces by the French composers Josephine Boulay (1869-1925), Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944), Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979) and Hedwige Chrétien (1859-1944). We return to this country for three beautiful choral-preludes by Ethel Smyth (1858-1944)
Two American composers, Amy Beach (1867-1944) and Florence Price (1887-1953) have left us several fine organ works and we will hear a small selection of their output before returning to France for part of Germaine Labole’s hauntingly beautiful Symphonie of 1940 and a selection of the great Jeanne Demessieux’s Chorale Preludes on Gregorian Themes, published in 1950. I knew very few of these pieces beforehand and learning them has been a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding experience. The Labole Symphonie is a masterpiece and the Demessieux preludes are quirky and delightful.
A detailed illustrated booklet will be provided and it will be a great help if you can let Adrian know if you intend coming so that he can produce the right number of booklets beforehand.