By Marie-Louise Gumuchian
LONDON (Reuters) – French violinist Esther Abrami puts female composers in focus on her new album “Women”, paying tribute to their often-overlooked contributions to classical music.
From Oscar winners Rachel Portman and Anne Dudley to historical composers Ethel Smyth and Pauline Viardot, 14 women feature on the record, which will be released on Friday.
Abrami, a graduate of London’s Royal College of Music, describes her third album as “a collection of music and stories from women across the centuries, starting from the Middle Ages all the way up to today”.
“In 15 years of studying music, I didn’t play a single piece written by a woman,” she told Reuters.
“If I ask anyone who’s not into classical music to name me… one woman who composed classical music, they’re usually unable to. If I ask them to name one man who composed classical music, everybody can at least give you one name. So I think that’s kind of what inspired it, I want things to change.”
On the track list are arrangements of original compositions including “March of the Women” by Smyth, featuring the voice of fellow women’s suffrage activist Emmeline Pankhurst, as well as “Wiegala” by Jewish poet Ilse Weber, who composed songs for children while at the Theresienstadt camp during World War Two.
Weber died in the Auschwitz death camp but her husband, who had hidden her music before their deportation, retrieved it after the war.
“I chose pieces that touched me,” Abrami said. “(These women) are incredibly inspiring and I hope they can also inspire young girls to want to compose music themselves.”
Modern touches include Miley Cyrus’ hit “Flowers” and Abrami’s own composition “Transmission”, inspired by her grandmother who was also a violinist.
Abrami, who has a loyal social media following, has long championed the voice of women in classical music, interviewing various figures on her podcast “Women in Classical”.
“I think… it’s… refreshing to hear… different pieces of classical music, different composers,” she said.
“Even (for) me as a classical musician, when I thought I knew kind of everything about it… at least the main composers, to realize actually there’s a whole part of history that you don’t know yet. That’s super exciting.”
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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