Description
January 10, 2021 – Sonata No. 1 in G minor
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre was a French composer, harpsichordist, organist, virtuoso and teacher. She emerged at a young age as a musical prodigy and went on to make her debut as a singer and harpsichordist at the court of Louis XIV. Jacquet de la Guerre’s “Sonata No. 1 in G minor” was composed ca. 1695, and is one of the only collections of instrumental chamber works she composed for two treble instruments and basso continuo.
January 21, 2022 – Flute Sonata in A minor
Wilhelmine was a princess of the German Kingdom of Prussia and composer. The piece for flute and basso continuo is the second autograph of Wilhelmine’s, and showcases the first pensive, then lively and thunderous performance of the solo instrument.
March 4, 2022 – Sonata in G major, Op. 1, No. 5
Known for her exceptional violin performance and innovation, Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen was an impressive businesswoman and one of the first professional female instrumentalists of the 18th century. She composed a healthy portfolio of chamber music for strings, in particular sonatas. In her first opus, including “Sonata V in G major”, Sirmen pushed convention with creating ambitious structures and playing with alternating tempi.
March 18, 2022 – Divertimento in D minor
Harpsichordist and composer Anna Bon has little recording of her life, but her most well-known pieces were composed during her stay in Bayreuth with her patron Wilhelmine von Bayreuth; six flute sonatas, six harpsichord sonatas and six trio sonatas for two flutes and basso continuo, including “Divertimento in D Minor”.
April 15, 2022 – Cello Sonata in B-Flat Major, Op. 11
Born in Berlin to wealthy middle-class parents, Hélène Liebmann (née Riese) received an excellent musical education in piano and composition. Lauded as a child prodigy- she was called a brilliant pianist by the age of ten- she studied with the best teachers available, including Franz Lauska (a famous pupil of Beethoven). In 1811, an Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung review of her opp. 1 and 2 compared her music to the early works of the great masters, as opposed to the “weak imitation of music written by men”.
May 27, 2022 – Piano Trio in G minor, Op 17
Perhaps considered one of her masterpieces, Clara Schumann’s “Piano Trio in G Minor” remains a brilliant testimony to the merit of Schumann’s compositional skill, all the while touring, giving performances throughout Europe, teaching, coping with a sickly spouse, and raising a family.
