What would it mean to 'compose like a woman'? The present collection answers the question, in a literal sense, while undoing the premise on which the question was asked in the first place. In social and historical terms, it means enjoying privileges of upbringing, education, and/or wealth that were historically denied to the vast majority of women. It means, on the part of the women represented here, a single-minded determination in pursuit of their vocation, helping them to overcome prejudice and sexism in a cultural, social and political milieu that has consistently denied women the opportunity to find and express their own voice in music. Only with movements of emancipation in the last century, and much more rapidly in the last 50 years, has this situation begun to be addressed and corrected. What composing like a woman does not mean - as the music in this collection makes clear - is a definable set of qualities or characteristics to the music itself which would distinguish the work of female composers from the music composed by men.

This remarkable set gathers many individual recordings of music by women composers, which Brilliant Classics has quietly yet actively championed in their catalogue for decades, uniting it with exciting new outings, so that a comprehensive historical picture of the highly varied struggles and successes of women composers through the ages to our present time are chronicled and celebrated.

Other information:

- Recordings date from 1994-2024

- Booklet in English contains liner notes by Peter Quantrill

- The revival of interest in female classical composers reflects a growing recognition of their overlooked contributions to music history.

For centuries, women composers were marginalized, their works overshadowed by their male counterparts. However, recent efforts by musicians, scholars, and institutions have brought these composers into the spotlight, highlighting the richness and diversity of their compositions.

- This renewed focus stems from a broader movement toward inclusivity in the arts, challenging traditional narratives that have historically excluded women. The rise of feminist musicology has also played a key role, offering fresh perspectives on these composers' lives and works.

- This comprehensive box set offers a wide spectrum of works by female composers, from the Medieval mystic Hildegard Von Bingen (1098-1179), through the Renaissance Isabella Leonarda (baptized 1620-1704), Francesca Caccini (1587-1640) und Barbara Strozzi (baptized 1619-1677), traversing the Baroque and Classical eras, and arriving in the contemporary field, with composers such as Galina Ustvolskaya (1919-2006) and Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969).

- A long due homage to the art and voice of female composers, spanning nearly a thousand years!

The idea for this recording was born during the Covid pandemic in 2020, when many of us were isolated and unable to communicate with each other in person. It was difficult for musicians during this time, especially because they couldn't make music with others or give live concerts. This situation made us think about how composers, musicians and artists dealt with situations where there was no freedom and how they dealt with chaos, obstacles or persecution. In selecting the works for this album, we looked at different historical periods (which sometimes included pandemics) to understand the impact that oppression and lack of freedom had on the creative process. In the course of our extensive research, we finally became aware of the "positive" aspect of this topic: we were not so much interested in what people could not do due to restrictive situations and adverse circumstances, but above all in what they were able to achieve despite these circumstances. During our research, we came across impressive artistic personalities who have left behind music of great value.

These works were commissioned by the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart to write works to mark Bach Year 2000. Osvaldo Golijov´s Pasión Según San Marcos is the work of one who moves back and forth between different worlds and can scarcely be pigeonholed as representing a specific culture. His work unites the music of South America, Cuba, the West and Jewish tradition to produce an unconventional conception of a “Passion“ in which Jesus is not a light skinned European, but instead a person of color. Sofia Gubaidulina's response was a St John Passion, and subsequently she added a sequel, St John Easter, which was premiered in Hamburg in March 2002. Both those works originally had Russian words, drawn mostly from St John's gospel and the Book of Revelation, but in 2006, prompted by conductor Helmuth Rilling, Gubaidulina collaborated on a German translation of the text, while also making revisions to the score itself.

This album is the Polish phonographic premiere of works by three outstanding contemporary composers: Gubaidulina, Liebermann and Proto. The album presented by the performers is the outcome of ten years of cooperation, quest for a common sound, discovering new areas in music, artistic trips and creative interpretations. In their activities, double bass player Marek Romanowski and pianist Hanna Holeksa are guided by their common will to popularize new repertoire for this seemingly unobvious instrumental combination, proving its enormous potential.

The musicians working with soprano Maacha Deubner take us to exotic worlds of sound on their new GENUIN album, which is exclusively comprised of world premiere recordings. These include works by the Russian composer Elena Firsova and fellow composers, set in dialogue with the oeuvre of the poet Ossip Mandelstam. In addition to Firsova's works, we make acquaintance with music by Sofia Gubaidulina, Edison Denissov, and Valentin Silvestrov. Maacha Leubner and her colleagues from the KAPmodern ensemble of the Kammerphilharmonie Potsdam devote themselves to the invariably highly expressive music, performing it with great seriousness and mastery.

For her fifth release on BIS Clare Hammond has constructed an adventurous programme of twentieth and twenty-first-century variations for piano. From the imposing Chaconne by Sofia Gubaidulina, to the tender grief of Paul Hindemith’s variations or Aaron Copland’s bold and uncompromising proclamation, the disc presents a fresh perspective on the genre. Hammond opens with Karol Szymanowski’s Variations on a Polish Theme from 1904, a virtuosic and intensely Romantic outpouring that contrasts strikingly with the wit and irreverence of Helmut Lachenmann’s set on a theme by Schubert. The most recent works in the programme are Harrison Birtwistle’s mercurial elegy and its polar opposite I Still Play, a lyrical waltz composed in 2017 by John Adams. Described as ‘a star interpreter of contemporary music’ (The Observer), Clare Hammond has developed a reputation for imaginative concert programming. As she herself admits in her liner notes, variation form may on the surface appear to be both limiting and limited, but the works she presents here transcend the form in myriad creative, and at times daring, ways.

The Stockholm Syndrome Ensemble is – as the name implies – based in Stockholm, and consists of five of the city's leading musicians. Project-based and often inviting guest performers, the SSE is known for its imaginative programmes built around a particular event or concept and bringing together music from various genres and eras. For its first release on BIS the ensemble has taken Brett Dean’s Voices of Angels as their point of departure, a work scored for the same forces as Schubert’s ‘Trout quintet’ and inspired by Rainer Maria Rilke’s first two Duino Elegies: ‘Angels (it’s said) are often unable to tell whether they move amongst the living or the dead.’ Dean’s work from 1996 opens a programme which ranges from Bach to Sofia Gubaidulina, and includes various scorings for between two and six performers. The angels reappear in songs by Wagner and Gubaidulina performed by Christianne Stotijn, one of the ensemble’s guests on this disc – but it is also safe to assume that they are standing around the heavenly throne which Bach approaches in the chorale prelude ‘Vor Deinen Thron tret ich hiermit’ – here transcribed for strings. The same prelude is the subject of Gubaidulina’s Meditation, while the disc closes with a work by Gubaidulina’s friend Alfred Schnittke, namely his Hymn for cello and double bass.

Three leading Russian composers (Gubaidulina, Artyomov and Suslin) formed the Astraea ensemble in 1975 to research and perform music for eastern and Transcaucasian folk and traditional instruments (wind, string and percussion). After performing works by each of the members, the group decided to abandon notation and perform freely improvised and spontaneous pieces. This, their sole album, was originally issued in Russia only and now receives its global premiere. The three members of Astraea play on the first two tracks: Instruments include the duduk, salamuri, tar, kiamancha, chonguri, kanon, mandolin, and various types of drums and bells. The third piece, which is quasi-electronic, is also an improvisation, with a very small amount of set arrangement. It was made with the participation of leading American trombonist Miles Anderson, and is based on the text of a German love poem found in the diary of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.

A profoundly spiritual composer, Sofia Gubaidulina has said that ‘True art for me is always religious, it will always involve collaborating with God.’ As the present release demonstrates, it is therefore less than fruitful to try to divide her music into sacred and secular compositions. Jauchzt vor Gott, the opening work, is here being released for the first time. The nine-minute piece for choir and organ sets three verses from Psalm 66, and opens with a long cappella section on the word jauchzt, ‘rejoice.’ At this point, the organ enters with an extensive solo involving a massive dynamic intensification, after which choir and organ continue together in music which makes the concept of contrast a determining element. As the title signals, the organ work Hell und dunkel (Light and Darkness) also explores contrasts, especially in terms of color and brightness. Composed in 1976, the work is the earliest on the disc, and it is followed by the large-scale Sonnengesang, written some twenty years later and dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. The choir sings the words of St. Francis of Assisi’s celebrated Canticle of the sun, but it is the solo cello that is responsible for interpreting the meaning of the text. The important solo part is performed here by Ivan Monighetti, in dialogue with the eminent NDR Chor of the North German Radio, and with the support of percussionists from Elbtonal Percussion. Philipp Ahmann conducts this work as well as Jauchzt vor Gott, with Christian Schmitt performing the organ parts.

Sofia Gubaidulina has found a soulfulness and freedom in the guitar which speaks to her musical language of expressive mood and often mysterious but precise sonorities. In both Repentance and Sotto Voce she combines guitars with lower stringed instruments, creating a virtuosic, multi-dimensional and deeply poetic role for each voice. Fascinating new sounds from the guitar are produced from the most eloquent chorales to remarkable effects using a drinking glass. The earlier Serenade is ‘music for pleasure’, while this première recording of the Toccata reveals a work with a driving momentum that hardly stops.

Sofia Gubaidulina is one of the world's most famous living composers and her music has a tremendous worldwide following. This is currently the only available recording of Hommage à Marina Tsvetayeva, and there is only one other recording of The Canticle of the Sun. Recorded in: Danish Radio Concert Hall, Copenhagen 7 & 8 May 1999 (The Canticle of the Sun) and 15 & 16 November 2002 (Hommage à Marina Tsvetayeva) Producer(s) Claus Due (The Canticle of the Sun) Chris Hazell (Hommage à Marina Tsvetayeva) Sound Engineer(s) Jørn Jacobsen