Women in Music would like to congratulate composer and pianist Dr Tanya Ekanayaka and all those involved in the release of this marvellous collection.
Dr Tanya Ekanayaka - by Nadine Ishaq
Tanya writes
It gives me great pleasure to share with you, news of a unique release in celebration of International Women’s Day 2022 on 8th March.
A
limited-edition 10-CD boxset titled, 3 CENTURIES OF FEMALE COMPOSERS
containing works for solo piano by some of the greatest female piano composers
through history is being released worldwide today (4th March). Many of you will
likely recognise many of the composers and some of the music in this set can be
accessed entirely free!
I’m deeply
honoured that one of the CDs, (CD 9), comprises my own compositions for solo
piano mostly composed during lockdown in 2020, and performed by me. Not
least because of the beautiful context am I touched by this inclusion, but also
because a core aspect of my creative practice as a South Asian woman
composer-pianist with a very multicultural lived musical background,
focuses on broadening the musical imprint of the piano across cultures and
‘spaces’ not traditionally associated with the pianistic canon.
The set
is being released by Naxos Records (Grand Piano) and the following Naxos
Records web-link contains full details https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=GP897X
The release note published by Naxos Records on their official web-page dedicated to the release and full list of composers featured are as follows:
“Ranging from the 18th century to the music of our time, this collection of critically acclaimed recordings explores the significant contribution to solo piano repertoire made by a wide variety of women composers. These rare and important pieces include the works of the celebrated pianist Anne-Louise Brillon de Jouy and of Hélène de Montgeroult, whose sonatas are distinctive additions to the Classical and early Romantic periods. Maria Szymanowska’s deft dances contrast with the fearsome demands of Teresa Carreño, herself a great virtuoso. Vítězslava Kaprálová was the most important female Czech composer of the 20th century, while Agathe Backer Grøndahl was one of Norway’s most respected composer-pianists. Tanya Ekanayaka continues the lineage in her own diverse and hybrid pieces.” – NAXOS RECORDS
Composers included (in alphabetical order) –
Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska
Amy Beach
Anna Bon
Lili Boulanger
Anne-Louise Boyvin d'Hardancourt Brillon de Jouy
Teresa Carreño
Cécile Chaminade
Tanya Ekanayaka
Chiquinha Gonzaga
Agathe Backer Grøndahl
Vítězslava Kaprálová
Emma Kodály
Haruna Miyake
Hélène-Antoinette-Marie de Nervo de Montgeroult
Tatiana Nikolayeva
Dora Pejačević
Florence Beatrice Price
Clara Schumann
Maria
Szymanowska
And finally, here’s a little preview video: