Diverse Repertoire, The Faber Music Women Composers Piano Anthology

Part of the popular Faber Music Piano Anthologies series, The Faber Music Women Composers Piano Anthology is available now. An essential collection of music composed by women spanning several centuries, all pieces contained in the volume have been expertly transcribed for piano solo in a beautifully presented sewn-bound book, featuring cover artwork by Vanessa Bell and photographs and images of the composers throughout. With over fifty works suitable for intermediate level pianists, some in print here for the first time. Read on for more information about the composers included in the collection. 

Featured Composers

Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847-1907) - Norwegian pianist and composer. Her oeuvre consists of seventy opus works, including over two hundred songs, and around 150 pieces for piano. 

Agnes Obel (1980-present) - Danish singer, songwriter and musician. Citing influences as diverse as PJ Harvey and Claude Debussy, and drawing comparisons to the likes of Ane Brun, Eva Cassidy, and Joni Mitchell, Obel's 2010 debut, Philharmonics, was written, performed and produced by the artist herself. 

Aija Alsina (-present) - Latvian composer who writes music for films, television, commercials, and other media. 

Amy Beach (1867-1944) - American composer and pianist. The first successful American female composer of large-scale art music.

Anna Bon (1738-after 1769) - Italian composer and singer of the late Baroque and early Classical periods.

Annelie (1985-present) - Dutch musician and songwriter based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. As a keyboardist and singer for well-known Dutch artists such as Eefje de Visser and Maaike Ouboter, Annelie has made her mark in the Dutch music scene.

Büşra Kayıkçı (1990-present) - Turkish pianist and composer. Inspired by modern classical composers like John Cage and Michael Nyman, Kayıkçı wrote her first works in 2019.

Cassandra Miller (1976-present) - Canadian experimental composer currently based in London, UK. Her composition methods incorporate a unique practice of meditation-based uncontrolled singing to learn about melody and repetition from a deep-tissue perspective.

Cécile Chaminade (1857-1944) - French composer and pianist. The first female composer to be awarded the Légion d'Honneur in 1913. 

Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847-1935) - Brazilian composer and pianist. The first female conductor in Brazil.

Clara Schumann (1819-1896) - German pianist, composer, and piano tutor. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era.

Dora Pejačević (1885-1923) - Hungarian-Croatian composer. Her Symphony in F-sharp minor is considered by scholars to be the first modern symphony in Croatian music.

Elisabetta de Gambarini (1731-1765) - English composer, mezzo-soprano, pianist, conductor, and painter. Elisabetta's music is considered late Baroque and Classical music. She achieved distinction as an all-around musician.

Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) - English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas.

Eydís Evensen (1994-present) - Icelandic composer, pianist, vocalist, and former model. Her 2021 debut album, Bylur, charted at #23 on the UK Classical Artist Albums Chart.

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847) - German composer and pianist of the early Romantic era. Among the first female composers to have their works published.

Florence Beatrice Price(1887-1953) - American classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher. The first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra.

Frances Shelley (-present) - British composer and performer. An animist and long time environmentalist, all her work is influenced by the natural world and how we humans interact within it.

Hania Rani (1990-present) - Polish pianist, singer, and composer. Trained as a classical pianist, Rani began incorporating jazz into her work during music school. She blurs traditional distinctions between jazz, classical and house music.

Hélène de Montgeroult (1764-1836) - French composer and pianist. Recognised as one of the best fortepiano performers and improvisers of her time. 

Imogen Holst (1907-1984) - British composer, arranger, conductor, teacher, musicologist, and festival administrator. The only child of the composer Gustav Holst, she is particularly known for her educational work at Dartington Hall in the 1940s, and for her twenty years as joint artistic director of the Aldeburgh Festival.

Jean Coulthard (1908-2000) - Canadian composer and music educator. The first composer from Canada's West Coast to receive wide recognition. 

Julia Wolfe (1958-present) - American composer and professor of music at New York University. Her music is distinguished by an intense physicality and a relentless power that pushes performers to extremes and demands attention from the audience.

Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) - French composer. The first female winner of the Prix de Rome composition prize.

Lisa Illean (1983-present) - Australian composer now based in the UK. Lisa Illean composes 'music that seeps into your consciousness'.

Louise Farrenc (1804-1875) - French composer, pianist and teacher of the Romantic period. The only female professor of music to be hired in the nineteenth century at the famous Paris Conservatory.

Marianne von Martinez (1744-1812) - (Austrian composer, pianist, and singer of the Classical period. She was admitted to the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna in 1773, the first woman to gain admission.

Marie Jaëll (1846-1925) - French pianist, composer, and pedagogue. The first pianist to perform all the piano sonatas of Beethoven in Paris.

Melanie Bonis (1858-1937) - French late-Romantic composer. She composed over 300 pieces, including chamber music, choral works, orchestral masterpieces, and organ pieces.

Morfydd Llwyn-Owen (1891-1918) - Welsh composer, pianist, and mezzo-soprano. Morfydd Owen was one of the most gifted and versatile musicians that Wales has produced.

Natalia Tsupryk (-present) - Ukrainian composer and violinist. Defined by a distinctive use of strings and vocals, Natalia Tsupryk‘s music draws from her classical background to combine elements of folk, electronic, and classical.

Olivia Belli (-present) - Italian composer and pianist. Belli has reached a worldwide audience, being featured on radio stations such as BBC Radio 3, Classic FM, BBC 6 Music, KEXP and Radio France, and has received millions of streams across leading platforms.

Phildel (1983-present) - English singer, pianist, and songwriter. Multi-award winning music artist, inspired by imagination and driven by fantasy.

Poppy Ackroyd (1982-present) - British composer, pianist and violinist and a regular member of the live project Hidden Orchestra.

Rachel Portman (1960-present) - British composer. She made history in 1996 for being the first female composer to win an Academy Award for the Best Original Score, for Emma.

Sarah Watson (-present) - Canadian pianist. Sarah’s piano compositions are known for their strong melodies, refined arrangements, and emotional depth.

Signe Lund-Skabo (1868-1950)- Norwegian composer and music educator. 

Teresa Carreño (1853-1917) - Venezuelan pianist, soprano, composer, and conductor. Over the course of her 54-year concert career, she became an internationally renowned virtuoso pianist and was often referred to as the "Valkyrie of the Piano". 

Víteszlava Kaprálová (1915-1940) - Czech composer and conductor. A child prodigy, she started composing at nine, and by fifteen she had entered the Brno Conservatory.

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