Since a large part of my project is the performance of works by female artists, I was recently scouring the web for information on Baroque composers; unfortunately for me, most of the women composing at the time, like Barbara Strozzi, were focused on vocal works—probably because this was a field in which they had the greatest opportunity to shine, branching out easily from performance to composition. Stumbling upon a rare list of female composers, I discovered (with some relief) Mme de la Guerre as one of the few female Baroque composers writing for solo violin.
Born in 1665 into a family of musicians—her father Claude was an organist and master luthier—Elisabeth received high-level training in performance and composition from a very young age. She was considered a prodigy at harpsichord and improvisation, which brought her early fame: she was called to court by Louis XIV when she was just eight years old, and garnered mass critical acclaim during her seven years of study and performance at the palace.
In 1684, Elisabeth married a fellow musician, organist Marin de La Guerre, and in 1687 published her first book of harpsichord compositions. At only 22, this was a remarkable intellectual feat, not just for a woman. Later, in 1694, she became the first female composer to present a piece at the Académie Royale de Musique—which piece, Céphale et Procris, also made her the first woman to stage an opera in France. During her illustrious career, she published another solo harpsichord anthology, a book of sonatas for one and two violins, three books of secular and religious cantatas, and six sonatas for violin and harpsichord. Elisabeth was a truly notable Baroque composer not just because she managed to find success as a woman, but for her complex and experimental harmonies, which were atypical of Baroque music and set her apart from all of her contemporaries—male and female alike.
For my part, I plan to perform the first movement (from the beginning to 1:24 in the recording below) from Mme de la Guerre's second violin sonata, published in 1707. This movement is a spirited presto in D major, exemplifying the composer's distinctive and playful style.
Born in 1665 into a family of musicians—her father Claude was an organist and master luthier—Elisabeth received high-level training in performance and composition from a very young age. She was considered a prodigy at harpsichord and improvisation, which brought her early fame: she was called to court by Louis XIV when she was just eight years old, and garnered mass critical acclaim during her seven years of study and performance at the palace.
In 1684, Elisabeth married a fellow musician, organist Marin de La Guerre, and in 1687 published her first book of harpsichord compositions. At only 22, this was a remarkable intellectual feat, not just for a woman. Later, in 1694, she became the first female composer to present a piece at the Académie Royale de Musique—which piece, Céphale et Procris, also made her the first woman to stage an opera in France. During her illustrious career, she published another solo harpsichord anthology, a book of sonatas for one and two violins, three books of secular and religious cantatas, and six sonatas for violin and harpsichord. Elisabeth was a truly notable Baroque composer not just because she managed to find success as a woman, but for her complex and experimental harmonies, which were atypical of Baroque music and set her apart from all of her contemporaries—male and female alike.
For my part, I plan to perform the first movement (from the beginning to 1:24 in the recording below) from Mme de la Guerre's second violin sonata, published in 1707. This movement is a spirited presto in D major, exemplifying the composer's distinctive and playful style.