On researching for recordings of these works, I was fascinated to see the volume of music written by women recorded in the past three years. A commitment to celebrating the work of women composers, both past and present, many artists are introducing listeners to pieces that had been previously discarded. 

There appears still work to be done in the live performance of music by women. Donne, Women in music is a charitable foundation that celebrates, advances and amplifies women in music. Their research revealed that in the 2021–2022 seasons of 111 orchestras across 31 countries, of the 20,400 compositions lined up just 7.7% were by women.

Are recordings the start of convincing orchestras and ensembles worldwide to celebrate and perform music by women? Solo and chamber music may always be ahead of orchestral music in this regard, due to accessibility and variety, but the signs of change are exciting. 

Here are 10 works by women composers that we hope you will celebrate and enjoy as much as we do.

1. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel Piano Trio in D minor

This work's slow movement is a big part of its revival and demonstrates Fanny Mendelssohn's fabulous pianistic writing. Written between 1846 and 1847 as a birthday present for her sister, the trio was published in 1850, three years after her death. The deep emotion of the slow movement is a popular reason people return to the work, but each movement reveals a new scene and displays the incredible gifts of a woman often only remembered in the wake of her brother's success. 

2. Ethel Smyth Overture to 'The Wreckers'

Ethel Smyth is often remembered as a deaf and formidable suffragette who often upset the musicians and conductors that played her music due to her huge character. Also now an icon of the LGBTQ+ movement, Smyth's homosexual love affairs were detailed in letters throughout her life with her friendships and infatuations including the writer Virginia Woolf and Emmeliene Pankhurst. The Overture to Smyth's opera 'The Wreckers' was premiered in 1906 and remains performed as a stand-alone piece. The opera itself was recently performed in the 2022 Glyndebourne Festival Opera season and at the BBC Proms. 

3. Jennifer Higdon Percussion Concerto 

Atlanta-born Jennifer Higdon's road to composition is one of incredible humility and openness. Brought up without much exposure to classical music, but instead the influence of the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel, Higdon's inspiration is refreshingly wide. Learning compositional technique in her 20's, the first priority for Higdon has always been sound. Higdon's Percussion Concerto continues to excite audiences and orchestras around the world. Written in 2005 for Colin Currie, the work continues to be received with huge enthusiasm, itself the winning concerto in this year's BBC Young Musician Competition, performed by Jordan Ashman. 

4. Clara Schumann Three Romances for Violin and Piano

Written in 1853 for violinist Joseph Joachim, the Three Romances for Violin and Piano showcase Clara Schumann's natural affinity for chamber music. Taking the work on tour, she and Joachim performed for King George V of Hanover, who famously was 'completely ecstatic' on hearing them. It is not difficult to imagine why and thankfully these wonderful pieces are finding their way into the standard violin repertoire. Another of here celebrated works is the Piano Trio in G minor, recently recorded by Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lambert Orkis and Pablo Ferrández. Anne-Sophie and Pablo spoke about the recording project and Clara Schumann's work on this week's Gramophone Podcast, which you can find here. 

5. Florence Price Symphony No 1

Florence Price's Symphony No 1, first performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1933, was the first symphony by a Black woman to be performed by a major American orchestra. Lasting around 40 minutes, the work begins with Dvorak-style harmony, as well as incorporating African-American folk music. It baffles me as to why it fell into relative obscurity after receiving such a positive reception.

6. Hélène de Montgeroult Études

Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836) was a French composer and pianist, only 8 years younger than Mozart. She wrote in an early-Romantic style completely ahead of her time, and has been described as 'the missing link between Mozart and Chopin' Recording her 29 études has been the project of the British pianist Clare Hammond, whose CD of the works has recently been released on BIS. The etudes themselves feel far away from their form as a technical exercise. There's a remarkable sense of nostalgia in these short pieces as I try to think of what they remind me of. They are deeply emotional and reflect the difficulties of living, and facing imprisonment, as an aristocrat in the French Revolution.

7. Grace Williams Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes

Generally agreed to be her most popular work, Grace Williams's Fantasia on Welsh Nursery Tunes includes 8 well-known tunes, capturing the landscape of her childhood. Fantasia was immediately popular in war-time Wales, following its initial performance in 1941 and was recorded four times in the 20th century, by conductors including Mansel Thomas and Sir Charles Groves, who was a particular champion of her work. 

8. Imogen Holst The fall of the leaf for solo cello

Often remembered after her father, the renowned composer Gustav Holst, many people have heard of Imogen Holst, though few know of the beauty of her music. The fall of the leaf, written in 1963 for her friend, the cellist and pianist Pamela Hind o’Malley, the work is described as a set of ‘three short studies for solo cello on a sixteenth-century tune’. Steven Isserlis's notes on the piece speak of it as having an air of 'autumnal melancholy', an image of rural England that is certainly apparent through the bleakness in her writing.

9. Hildegard of Bingen Ordo Virtutum

Composed in 1151, Hildegard's sacred music drama is commonly accepted as the earliest example of a piece of its kind. Composed during the relocation of her abbey to Rupertsberg, it is thought to have been performed by the convent nuns at the dedication of the St Rupertsberg church in 1152. Known for her extensive visions, the entirely self-taught Hildegard described her compositions coming to her in 'trances'. Written in dramatic verse, Ordo Virtutum contains 82 different melodies, and all parts are sung in plainchant except that of the Devil.

10. Lili Boulanger Du fond de l'abîme for chorus and orchestra

Setting Psalm 130's, Du fond de l’abîme (Out of the depths of the abyss), French composer Lili Boulanger dedicated the work to her father, who had died when she was 6. Begun in 1910 and completed in 1917, just a year before her untimely death, it remains one of her most important psalm settings, reflecting her deep Catholic faith.