The next installment of the Resound: NCH and Sounding the Feminists Series on January 23 at the National Concert Hall sees France meet Ireland for a recital of pieces by nineteenth and early twentieth-century women composers.
Below are five facts you should know about some of the remarkable women who will be celebrated on the night by mezzo-soprano Sharon Carty and pianist Una Hunt...
HOPE TEMPLE
Maud Alice Davies (1859-1938), who wrote under the pseudonym Hope Temple, was born in Dublin but moved to England at the age of 12. Her songs were extremely popular in London in the 1880s and '90s, so much so that one of her best-known works My Lady's Bower was mentioned in Joyce’s Ulysses.
ETHEL SMYTH
Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) was one of the most high-profile composers of her time. In addition to her music, she fought vigorously from 1910 for women's right to vote, alongside her friend Emmeline Pankhurst. Smyth was so dedicated to the cause that she gave up composition for a time in order to devote herself to the Women’s Social and Political Union. Famously, she ended up in Holloway prison for two months for breaking a cabinet minister’s window.
FANNY ROBINSON
In 1856 Fanny Robinson (1831 – 1879) was appointed professor of piano and supervisor of female students at the Royal Irish Academy of Music where she was second in seniority only to her husband Joseph. Unusually for the time, she had pay parity with her male colleagues, an indication of the high esteem in which she was held. A talented pianist, Robinson introduced Liszt’s concept of the piano recital to Ireland.
AUGUSTA HOLMES
Although Augusta Holmès (1847-1903) never set foot in Ireland, her connection was strong as evidenced by the number of her works with Irish titles and themes. Her ties to the country and its causes were such she even donated the royalties for her best-known work Irlande (1882) to the Gaelic League.
CECILE CHAMINADE
Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) was one of the most successful concert pianists and composers of her era. She was particularly popular in Britain and the United States, where in the early twentieth century, hundreds of ‘Chaminade’ clubs sprang up across the US, while in England her Prélude for organ was played at Queen Victoria’s funeral.
NCH & Sounding The Feminists present a programme of French music by women composers, performed by Sharon Carty, mezzo-soprano & Úna Hunt, piano, at the National Concert Hall, Dublin on January 23rd - find out more here.
