Listening to women

In 2014 Magdalena Fronczak was attending a concert celebrating the centenary of Danish womens right to vote in Copenhagen when suddenly she thought her life had changed The event exclusively featured pieces written by women many of which she hadnt heard of That day she swore to learn everything there is about women composers in Western classical music WCM mdash who have long been overlooked or dismissed from a collective memory that is maledominated So she set out to research one woman and her work each week and then post the result on Instagram IG She thought the project would be completed in a few months and she couldnt have been more wrong As of April 2020 she still uploads posts on IG and now has also launched an online newsletter titled Fantastic Women Composers amp Where To Find Them mdash youll get the reference if youre a PotterheadMagdalena FronczakFronczak 33 who lives in Gothenburg Sweden works with the Swedish National Orchestra as a producer and project manager She also freelances as an oboe and baroque oboe player repertoire consultant and writer Having experimented with newsletters a couple of times in the past Fronczaks first issue of this years project is themed on woodwind quintets an ensemble that includes the flute oboe clarinet bassoon and the French horn She explores how five women composers mdash Elsa Barraine Claude Arrieu Grazyna Bacewicz Teresa Procaccini and Amy Beach mdash delved into this arrangementFrom the very beginning my main motivation was to find actual repertoire to be performed in the concerts I produce at the concert house For some years we have performed at least one piece composed by a woman in almost every program but this goal of ours has never been explicitly stated to the audience Fronczak tells us in an email interview Fascinatingly the feedback she received from concertgoers and on IG wasnt the same the audience didnt have anything to say while on social media people expressed astonishment and anger with respect to how these women have been forgotten This is proof that the audience doesnt see a difference in quality between music made by women or men They buy the same amount of tickets either way and appreciate good music regardless of if a famous name is on the title page or not she saysKushmita BiswakarmaAll the work mentioned in the newsletter is curated into a Spotify playlist Having given it a listen citybased violinist Kushmita Biswakarma who plays with the Symphony Orchestra of India says I hadnt heard of these composers before I think the compositions are well done There was a lot of repertoire for the winds where I cant say much But when I listened to the music I felt it had lot of different facets colours and moodsElsa Barraine standing left with Paul Dukas and his composition students at the Paris Conservatoire 1929 Seated on the right Claude ArrieuAbout research Fronczak states that although a vast amount of information is available online you need to know what to search for The difficulty lies in the fact that the music by women hasnt been moulded interpreted and distributed the same way as the work by men For a piece by a male composer there might be three scholarly edited editions readily available for purchase online and hundreds of recordings by the worlds greatest interpreters who have thought and rethought how to play every single note since their school days Many times when looking for a piece by a woman composer we might be left with a manuscript in a library that needs to be translated to modern music notation or we find copies of copies that are literally falling apart she informs But Fronczak also shares that things are starting to change as many other industries such as visual arts and technology are being mindful of including womens history in their regular history to be in tune with the times After all including women is a simple way to become relevant for twice as many people Any economically driven person will be attracted by this facthellip For anyone in the publishing business here is a market that is longing for your services she quipsHaving made an active effort to listen to music rather than just read Fronczak tries her best to be in the audience wherever work by women is being performed I can also see that many times people arent convinced that womens music is any good until they actually hear it Therefore I am very grateful to the professionals in the recording industry who take time and use their resources to produce good quality recordings for us she says citing Spotify YouTube and the Naxos Classical Music Library as avenues for the sameTo ensure equal programming in orchestras Fronczak says that the first and most important step is to realise that you dont need to be constrained by the socalled musical canon Dont limit yourself to the few names someone once told you made the only good music mdash look beyond this and make up your own mind A good example she states is Stockholms The Swedish Wind Ensemble which imposed a 5050 quota of male and female composers during its 201011 season Plus The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra has been asking all their conductors the question If you were to conduct a piece composed by a woman which one would it be This in the early 19thcentury wouldve confounded the expectations of Clara Schumann who wrote in her diary I once believed that I possessed creative talent but I have given up this idea a woman must not desire to compose mdash there has never yet been one able to do it Should I expect to be the oneFarah GhadialiReminiscing last years Con Brio festival in the city that celebrated the work of Schumann and other women soprano Farah Ghadiali wouldve preferred Fronczaks first newsletter to enlighten the reader on the first known women composers in the history of WCM namely Hildegard von Bingen 10981179 and then Francesca Caccini 15871640 It would have also been nice to read about equally and maybe more talented sisters who were outshone by their brothers because of their gender mdash Nannerl Mozart and Fanny Mendelssohn she says but understands Fronczaks intention for curating these particular pieces quintets that allow for five players in a room are great during the lockdownHaving signed up for the newsletter Ghadiali hopes to see more instruments including voice featured in the future editions I like the fact that you can click on the composers name and it takes you to her writeup about them she adds Fronczak states that she will diversify the theme of the newsletter with each issue hoping to release about four every year and is happy to take suggestions from readers The ultimate goal is of course that none of my channels will be needed any more that all programmes will be equalLog on to wwwfronczaksemore to access the past newsletters and subscribeCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and 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