#ClassicsaDay #WomensHistoryMonth Week 3, 2025
By Ralph Graves
March is Women’s History Month. And it’s a great opportunity for Classics a Day to focus on the contributions of women to classical music.
Women composers are often unjustly overlooked by history. The problem is seldom the quality of their work — just the worker’s gender. The challenge in March is to post examples of music by women composers. There’s a millennium of music to choose from. For me, the challenge was what to leave out. Here are my posts for the third week of #WomensHistoryMonth.
03/17/25 Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth (1709-1758): Argenore Overture
Wilhelmine was the older sister of Frederick the Great. Like her brother, she was a talented amateur musician and composer. This is the overture to her 1740 opera.
03/18/25 Anna Bon (c.1739-c.1767): Flute sonata in D major, Op. 1 No. 4
Anna was the daughter of professional musicians. The family came to work at the Esterhazy estate under Franz Joseph Haydn. Bon was a harpsichordist as well as a composer.
03/19/25 Marianne von Martinez (1744-1812): La Tempesta
Martinez was a talented harpsichordist, singer, and composer. “La Tempesta” was most likely premiered by Martinez herself.
03/20/25 Josepha Barbara von Auernhammer (1758-1820): Sonata for Harpsichord and Violin in C major
Auerhammer was well-known in Vienna as a performer and composer. Mozart admired her technique and dedicated two of his violin sonatas to her.
03/21/25 Emilie Mayer (1812–1883): Symphony No. 1 in C minor
The only thing holding Mayer back was her gender. She published over 50 works, wrote 8 symphonies, and was co-chair of the Berlin Opera Academy.
