Hensel: String Quartet in E flat

Download or read book Hensel: String Quartet in E flat written by Benedict Taylor and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-11-30 with total page 133 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The String Quartet in E flat major (1834) by Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn, is one of the most important works by a female composer written in the nineteenth century. Composed at a turning point in her life (as Hensel was not only grappling with her own creative voice but also coming to terms with her identity as a married woman, and the role her family expected of her), the quartet is significant in showing a woman composing in a genre that was then almost exclusively the domain of male artists. Benedict Taylor's illuminating book situates itself within developing scholarly discourse on the music of women composers, going beyond apologetics – or condemnation of those who hindered their development – to examine the strength and qualities of the music and how it responded to the most progressive works of the period.