The Aalto Musiktheater and the Philharmonie in the German city Essen are once again the meeting place for music by female composers from March 12 to 15. The third edition of this Komponistinnenfestival showcases the German Maria Herz, the Irish Ina Boyle and the Swedish Elfrida Andrée as absolutely must-discover composers. Lectures are also part of the promising programme.
The Komponistinnenfestival her:voice continues a tradition of placing forgotten repertoire, historical pioneers and contemporary voices side by side. With only music by women on the programme, the festival wants to open 'new perspectives' according to artistic director Merle Fahrholz. 'Not because the music is necessarily different from that of men. Nor because it is supposedly better or because those works should necessarily be included in a new canon,' she writes in the foreword of the festival brochure, 'but because of the circumstances of their creation. These reflect eventful life stories, massive resistance and courageous self-affirmation, which touch different levels than those of their male colleagues.'
Fled from the Nazis
Take for example Maria Herz (1878-1950), born in Cologne in a Jewish textile family. Between the two world wars, she experienced her most creative period while also having to care for her four growing children after her husband's death. In 1926, she managed to achieve a breakthrough as a composer by placing her deceased husband Albert's name before her own. However, after fleeing the Nazis in 1935, 'Albert Maria Herz' fell into complete obscurity.
It was only after her artistic legacy ended up in the Zentralbibliothek in Zurich in 2015 and students began to study it that Herz could gradually be rediscovered. Thanks to the German cellist Raphaela Gromes, who also released the acclaimed cd Femmes with works by 24 female composers in 2023, Herz's cello concerto is now being performed again. During the festival, Gromes will be accompanied by the Essen Philharmonie. In the always interesting supporting programme of lectures and Gesprächskonzerte, the cellist will also explore the life and work of Maria Herz more deeply together with the students.
Courageous
Also on the programme of this Sinfoniekonzert conducted by Italian-Turkish conductor Nil Venditti is the second symphony by French composer Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) and the rhapsody The Magic Harp by Irish Ina Boyle (1889-1967). Of the latter, a passage is known from a letter by Ralph Vaughan Williams: 'I think it very courageous of you to go on with so little recognition. The only thing one can say is that it will come eventually.' I cite this as one of the mottos in my book Vrouw aan de piano, but as far as I could ascertain, she remains a composer who is rarely or never heard. I'm curious whether this festival can be a turning point for Ina Boyle.
Socially engaged
Another composer I discuss in Vrouw aan de piano but whose work I have never heard live is Swedish Elfrida Andrée (1841-1929). This student of Niels Gade was Sweden's first female organist and telegraphist – from a young age she was very interested in 'male professions'. Festival director Merle Fahrholz points to the social engagement of both the composer and her librettist, the Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlöf. In Fritjof-Saga, Andrée's only opera, an Old Norse saga is told from the perspective of the women left behind when their men go to war.
The artistic team around Kazakhstan-born director Anika Rutkofsky, winner of the prestigious Ring Award, transforms this archaic Viking story with its unusual, female narrative style into a surprisingly modern production, the festival organisers promise.
World premiere
Andrée and Lagerlöf submitted the work in 1894 for a competition following the opening of the new royal opera house in Stockholm, but it was never performed. More than 130 years later, Fritjof-Saga finally receives its full stage Uraufführung in Essen – another striking example of how the festival manages to unearth forgotten repertoire with each edition.
At the first edition, the opera Fausto (1825) by French composer Louise Bertin (1805-1877) – the first to create an opera from Goethe's masterpiece – was an absolute discovery. And last year at the second edition, we got to know the symphony La grande guerre by Charlotte Sohy (1887-1955) – or Charles Sohy as the male pseudonym went that this Parisian adopted in hopes of recognition. Sohy began La grande guerre in 1914, but the work remained unperformed for more than a century, forgotten somewhere in a drawer.
It is remarkable that the theme of war returns at each edition of the festival. Or how such forgotten works remain relevant in any case…
Symposium
As mentioned, the Komponistinnenfestival her:voice is not limited to concerts. The festival combines music with reflection through an extensive symposium on themes such as pioneering, gender in opera and the visibility of composers in music history.
The strength of her:voice is that it doesn't want to be a niche event. The festival demonstrates how rich and diverse the repertoire of female composers is, and how it should actually be a matter of course that this music is part of the standard repertoire. Some concerts, such as the Fritjof-Saga, are also programmed outside the festival.
• Komponistinnenfestival her:voice III from 12 to 15 March in Essen (Germany). Consult here the full programme of concerts and lectures.
• This article also appeared on the blog Notities van een vrouw aan de piano.