Violinist Madeleine Mitchell and the London Chamber Ensemble perform a Century of Music by British Women
The concert recorded at St John's Smith Square is available to watch from 8pm on Monday 8 March
To mark International Women’s Day, violinist Madeleine Mitchell leads a group of socially-distanced musicians in a filmed concert featuring the music of women composers spanning 100 years. Madeleine was Sam Hughes Scala Sessions artist in mid-February 2021.
The concert programme made available online from 8pm on the St Johns Smith Square website and Facebook page includes works by critically-acclaimed women composers who including Helen Grime, Judith Weir (appointed the first female Master of the Queen’s Music following end of Peter Maxwell Davies’ tenure), and Errolyn Wallen.
Founder and director London Chamber Ensemble Madeleine Mitchell, commissioned Errollyn Wallen CBE to write a new piece for violin and piano, supported by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust, which Mitchell will perform with pianist Sophia Rahman. Wallen, whom Mitchell has known for some years, said she wants to create a special piece for Madeleine ‘which captures her essence’.
Wallen’s piece - Sojourner Truth - is inspired by an American abolitionist born into slavery in 1797, a woman who later changed her name later to Sojourner Truth when she became a women's rights activist. Wallen’s piece is based on a slave song. “You hear this melody at the beginning of the piece,” explained Madeleine in an interview for the Scala Radio website. “It’s a sort of march, a march of defiance. But ultimately, this is a song of freedom.”
Who was Sojourner Truth?
Sojourner Truth was born Isabella Baumfree in 1797. She was born into slavery and live in New York, later escaping to freedom with her infant daughter. When she went to court to win back her first child, she was the first black woman to win a court case against a white man. Truth later went on to help recruit Black troops during the American Civil War. She died in 1883.
Who is composer Erollyn Wallen?
Wallen studied composition at Goldsmiths' College and at King's College London, and earned an MPhil at King's College, Cambridge.
Her first work was premiered by percussionist Colin Currie at the BBC Young Musician competition final in 1994. Her piece was later performed at the BBC Proms in 1998 making her the first black female composer to be credited at the world-renowned classical music festival. Wallen is known for writing a wide range of classical, contemporary, avant-garde, and songs.
Her song Peace on Earth later released as a carol in November 2020, formed part of English National Opera's Black Lives Matter response in July 2020.
Mitchell’s exploration of music by women composers began when she participated as an artist in residence on the Canberra International Festival in 2013. “It was here I was introduced to the music of some composers I hadn’t heard before. “I ended up playing a concert called Celebrating Creative Women. And it was music from those three countries and in particular, really gorgeous music by Rebecca Clark and Amy Beach, which I didn't know before.”
Later in 2017 a visit to Cardiff triggered her curiosity, “I visited the Wales Music Information where I discovered the unpublished manuscripts of Grace Williams violin sonata. She'd written on the title page, ‘not good enough - second movement - not worth performing’. And I thought, that looks interesting.”
Mitchell later played the work at a music conference in Bangor spotlighting women composers where the performance was well received. Suitably inspired, she went on to record the work. “That set me on a process of discovery and looking at what else Williams had written, seeking out manuscripts in the National Library of Wales and realising that hadn’t been published either, and let alone recorded. It was a labour of love, really.”
Mitchell went on to release a critically acclaimed album of Grace Williams chamber music. Williams’ music will also form part of the International Women’s Day concert on Monday 8 March when the London Chamber Ensemble play a Suite for Nine Instruments (1934).
How to watch A Century of Music by British Women on International Women’s Day
The pre-recorded concert is available on the St Johns Smith Square website and Facebook page 8pm https://www.sjss.org.uk/online-performances.
All artists were paid for their contributions. The concert is free to watch online with an invitation to donate.
Programme
Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) - Piano Trio (1921)
Judith Weir (b.1954) - Atlantic Drift duo for 2 violins (1995)
Helen Grime (b.1981) - Miniatures for oboe & piano 2005)
Judith Weir (b.1954) - The Bagpiper's String Trio (1985)
Cheryl-Frances Hoad (b.1980) - Invocation for cello & piano
Thea Musgrave (b.1928) - Colloquy (violin & piano, 1960)
Ruth Gipps (1921-99) Prelude for bass clarinet (1958)
Errollyn Wallen (b.1958) - new piece for Madeleine Mitchell violin & piano c5', 2021 - world premiere
Grace Williams (1906-77) - Suite for Nine Instruments (1934)