Women of Note

“Spesso per entro al petto”
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
Barbara Strozzi was a Baroque era composer born in Venice, Italy. She was fathered by
Giulio Strozzi, who was both a poet and librettist. He encouraged her gifts of performing and
composing from a young age, sending her to study composition with Francesco Cavalli. The
Strozzi estate housed the Academia degli Unisoni, or group of like-minded thinkers. It was here
that she showcased her compositions for the public, singing and accompanying herself on lute.
Unlike many female composers, she had her work published during her lifetime. These works
consist of secular arias, madrigals, and cantatas, spanning eight volumes. She died in 1677 and
continues to be considered one of the most prolific composers of secular music in Italy’s 17th
century.
“Spesso per entro al petto” (1651) is characteristic of Strozzi’s style, containing virtuosic
lines for the voice and intimate treatment of the text. The singer laments their emotions as they
reflect upon the beautiful Clori. He cannot define his feelings but considers the option of love in
a sarcastic manner, going as far as to call it a sickness. Strozzi, unlike her fellow female
composers, published under her own name. Society considered female composers to have poor
morals. To combat this, she dedicated this piece to royalty “…so that, under an oak of gold it
may rest secure against the lightning bolts of slander prepared for it.”
Often a little something
passes into my heart
And I cannot say if it is pain
or delight
I feel like I am dying
from an unknown force.
How laughable it would be
If this were the sickness of love.
When the beautiful siren Clori
presents herself to me
A fire grows within my breast which both
delights
and torments me

I feel my heart divided
between ice and fire.
How laughable it would be
If this were the sickness of love.
I willingly would search out
the most terrible horrors,
but I hear my thought saying
where is Clori?
Who can say exactly what
this madness means?
How laughable it would be
If this were the sickness of love.

“Ihr Bildnis”
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Poet: Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Romantic era composer, Clara Schumann, was born in Leipzig, Germany. She began
studying the piano at a young age with her father, Frederick Wieck. After attaining fame
throughout Europe as a prodigy by 11, she was encouraged to study composition in the major
cities of Germany. She met her future husband, Robert, when he was studying piano with her
father. After a lengthy legal battle, they were married. Until this point, she had performed her
own compositions, but marriage diminished her confidence in her own abilities. She didn’t want

to neglect her role as a mother and wife, so she composed and performed less. It wasn’t until
Robert’s death in 1856 that she returned to performing frequently, although this repertoire
consisted mainly of his work. Johannes Brahms befriended the Schumann’s in 1853 and helped
her through Robert’s death. Clara died in 1896, five years after her final public concert. While
many of her works were never published, she contributed to modernizing piano playing
technique and edited several works by her husband for publication.
“Ihr Bildnis”(1840) is one of her eighteen published lieders, telling the tragic story of
losing a loved one. Schumann experienced loss when her eighth child died during infancy. She
emphasizes the last line of text with an unresolved vocal line. The continuous eighth notes in the
bass line drive the piece forward, only changing after the vocal line has ended. Her use of
unconventional harmonies in the piano is typical of the romantic era, but her chord progressions
move melodically, highlighting her skill and understanding of the piano.
I stood in dark daydreams
And gazed at her picture
And that beloved face
Began to come slowly to life.
Around her lips played
A wonderous laughing smile
And tears of sorrow
Glistened in her fair eyes.
My tears also, flowed
Down my cheeks
And ah! I cannot believe
That I have lost you!

“Frühling”
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)
Poet: Joseph von Eichendorff (1788-1857)
Born into a cultured family of musicians, Fanny Mendelssohn grew up with her brother,
Felix, in Hamburg, Germany. Here, Fanny excelled at piano playing and would have gone on to
do so professionally had it not been for societal limitations. The opportunity to perform and
showcase her work came when her brother restored himself as the host of a musical salon in
1831. Two years prior, she married a famous painter, Wilhelm Hensel, and took on the role as a
wife. She continued to compose during her marriage, writing about 500 pieces including lieders,
piano works, chamber music, cantatas, and oratorios. While her and her brother were seen as
competitors by the public, they sought counsel with one another for feedback and advice on
compositions. Her death in 1847 is believed to have contributed to her brother’s untimely death
six months later.
“Frühling” comes from a text by Joseph von Eichendorff. In his typical poetic style, the
text is set in nature around spring time, and discusses the topic of love. This sense of wanderlust
and excited for the prospect of love can be heard in the stepwise sextuplet of the piano

accompaniment. Mendelssohn exhibits her understanding of the text by utilizing non-chord tones
to accentuate words such as “love” and “miracles” in the second stanza.
Above the garden through the breezes
I heard the birds of passage fly,
That means spring scents soon will come
Everything is starting to blossom.
I want to shout, I want to weep.
This must be spring, this must be love!
All miracles return again
With the light of the moon.
And the moon and stars proclaim it,
And the dreaming wood murmurs,
And the nightingales sing:
She is yours, yes, she is yours!

“Cantique”
Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979)
Poet: Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949)
Nadia Boulanger was born into a musically successful family in 1887. Her father, Ernest
Boulanger, taught voice at the Paris Conservatoire, where she began her studies at the age of ten.
One of her most notable teachers was Gabriel Fauré, who taught her composition. She had won
every award the Conservatoire had to offer, and even took second place in the Prix de Rome in
1908 with her cantata, La Sirène. Her sister, Lili, would go on the be the first female to win this
award. After Lili’s death, Nadia halted her composing career and devoted herself to teaching and
conducting. She taught composers such as Aaron Copland and Philip Glass, as well as paved the
way for performances of Baroque and Renaissance French music. Boulanger lived to be 92 and
died in her hometown. She lives on in the hearts of several composers as one of the most
influential teachers of music for the 20th century.
“Cantique” (1909) is set to text by poet Maurice Maeterlinck, discussing love as a pure
feeling without sin. The calm nature of the text is furthered by the simplistic and repetitive
rhythm in the piano. It only diverts from straight quarter notes when the text reads “Its tears will
find me and not go astray.” While the rhythm is straightforward, the harmonies utilize non-chord
tones and cluster chords to highlight words such as “stars” and “grace.”
To all weeping souls,
to all sin to pass,
I open in the midst of the stars
my hands full of grace.

No sin lives
where love speaks.
No soul dies
where love weeps.
And if love gets lost
on the paths of the earth,
Its tears will find me
and not go astray.

“Le Couteau”
Poet: Camille Mauclair (1872-1944)
“Le Couteau” (1922) is one of the few pieces Boulanger published after the death of her
sister. The lyrics liken the feeling of heartbreak to that of a knife in the heart. Her own feelings
of despair and hopelessness after losing Lili are believed to be the driving force behind this
composition. The unusual harmonies in the piano not only demonstrate her understanding of the
instrument, but her progressive use of non-chord tones and unconventional voice leading. The
uncertainty of chord resolution highlights the protagonist’s unwillingness to forget his love.
I have a knife in my heart
My lover, my lover put it there
I have a knife in my heart
And it cannot be pulled out.
This knife is the knife of love
My lover, my lover put it there
All my heart will be taken
With all my sorrow.

Only a kiss can heal it,
My lover, my lover put it there
A kiss on my heart
But he will not give it.
Knife, stay in my heart
Since my lover put you there!
I want to die of love for her
But I do not want to forget her.

“À Trianon”
Augusta Holmès (1847-1903)
Augusta Holmès is considered a French composer, although her lineage is Irish. She was
born in Paris in 1847 and later brought to Versailles to receive a better education. Here, she grew
up studying music with cathedral organists and socializing with other musicians and poets.
Holmès served as a nurse during the Franco-Prussian War and gained French citizenship shortly
after. Her studies were furthered in 1875, when she joined César Franck’s group of composition
students. These teachings, along with the influence of Wagner, shaped her compositional style.
Up until this point, she had written mostly songs, but slowly transitioned to larger works
including operas, orchestral, and choral works. One of these works for choir and orchestra was
premiered at the Paris Exposition of 1889. She composed and wrote poetry up until the year of
her death in 1903.
“À Trianon” (1896) is one of Holmès’ 130 composed songs. She wrote both the music
and the text as a parody of 18th century French music. This can be heard in both the vocal and
piano lines with grace notes and sixteenth note embellishments. The text most likely refers to the

Petit Trianon, a house outside the main building at the Palace of Versailles. Queen Marie
Antoinette and her court would come here to play out living the life of a peasant. Holmès’ text
builds in anticipation at the third stanza, and the music follows suite by changing to the relative
minor. The original key returns for the last stanza as the protagonist encourages Marquise to give
in to his love.

Follow me, Marquise,
Among the perfumed breeze,
Toward the Temple of Love
That smiles on us with the day’s last rays,
Follow me, Shepherdess,
Among the mosses and the ferns,
And the blossoming flowers beneath your feet
Will say: “Love, the mother
Is more hard
And Flora has less feminine charms!”

Come under the rosy hawthorn
Less red than your budding lips!
Permit me at last to rest
My head very close to your heart!
Your bosom beats faster
In vain you avoid my eyes
Your delicate hand is too small
To hide our blushes!
Come then, Marquise!
Together let us savor this exquisite hour
For Love has conquered you
And it is the end of the day!

“There are fairies at the bottom of our garden”
Liza Lehmann (1862-1918)
Rose Fyleman (1877-1957)
Liza Lehmann is considered an English composer and vocalist. She grew up living in
Germany, Italy, and France with parents who were both artists themselves. Her education began
in London where she studied voice with Alberto Randegger and Jenny Lind. After gaining
acclaim as a soprano voice, she spent nine years traveling Europe and the United States as a
recitalist, since her voice wasn’t quite big enough to hold her own in opera. Clara Schumann was
a large supporter of Lehmann’s career as a performer. After her marriage to Herbert Bedford, a

painter and composer, she moved away from the stage and began composing. She died of cancer
at the age of 56, shortly after finishing her memoirs.

“There are fairies at the bottom of our garden” (1917) is one of Lehmann’s most well-
known songs. She wrote several songs for children, some more satiric than serious. This piece is

sometimes performed seriously, and other times interpreted as a caricature of childish fantasies.
Regardless of portrayal, the text is heightened by the slight melodic variations between each
verse.
“Ah, Love, but a day!”
Amy Marcy Chenery Beach (1867-1944)
Robert Browning (1812-1889)
Amy Beach was born into a wealthy family in 1867. They moved from her hometown of
Henniker, New Hampshire to Boston when she was eight years old. By the time they had gotten
to Boston, Beach had memorized over forty songs on piano and composed simple hymns and
waltzes. Noticing her talent, her mother encouraged her to study piano, but Amy preferred to be
self-taught. This allowed her to experiment with classical forms and create her own style. She
did receive formal training from Junius W. Hill in counterpoint and harmonies for a year. Until
her marriage to Dr. Henry Beach, who discouraged her public performances, she enjoyed a
career of traveling and composing. He supported her interests in music and encouraged personal
study of composition to retain her creativity. His death in 1910 led to her continuation of her
performance career. World War II forced her to move back to the United States permanently.
Here, she lived out the rest of her life in New York and died of a heart disease in 1944.
“Ah, Love, but a day!” is the second in a set of three songs from 3 Browning Songs,
Op.44, set to poetry by Robert Browning. Browning’s poetry often contains darker themes and
provides social analysis through analogies. The line “Wilt thou change too,” takes the changing
political climate and compares it to his love. The protagonist is hoping that it would not change
as the world drastically was. His work is often hailed as the beginning of social discourse in
Britain and the United States during the 1880s.