Cecile Chaminade - The first "professional" female composer
Cecile Chaminade, the first "professional" female composer
I was referred to Chaminade first by Mila Henry, my collaborative pianist on my album Voices of Women. Chaminade was a highly accomplished and celebrated concert pianist, as well as a composer.
This is demonstrated well in Chaminade’s composition Plaintes d’Amour which displays an exuberant, salon style composition for voice and piano. Chaminade was truly a master of this style, and has composed music that is entertaining, entirely elegant in its expression and sentiment. The piano part is a whirlwind of notes that only occasionally slows to allow for the ends of each stanza of the poem to cadence.
Who was Cecile Chaminade?
Cecile Chaminade was born in Paris and enjoyed a comfortable upbringing. Chaminade’s parents were both musical, though not considered to be professionals. They encouraged Chaminade to develop her skills as a pianist with several excellent teachers, but Chaminade’s father would not allow her to study at the Paris Conservatoire due to her being a lady of respectable social standing. Despite this, Cecile Chaminade was highly successful on both national and international stages during her lifetime as a performer and serious composer. Chaminade received commission fees for many of her compositions and is said to have been a fine business woman.
Q&A: Get to know Cecile Chaminade
Q: What are Cecile Chaminade’s other vocal compositions?
A: Cecile Chaminade composed operas as well as over 100 songs.
Q: Who were Cecile Chaminade’s contemporaries?
A: Camille Saint-Saens, Henri Duparc, Emanuel Chabrier
Q: Did Cecile Chaminade have a connection to politics?
A: Chaminade was a firm believer in a woman’s ability to do the work that traditionally had been done solely by men. She would have enjoyed the political climate of today in which women are finally stepping forward to assume roles of leadership.
Q: How does Cecile Chaminade relate to women’s equality?
A: Although denied opportunities to study composition formally, Cecile Chaminade is widely regarded as the first professional female composer.
Q: How does Cecile Chaminade relate to other women’s issues?
A: Cecile Chaminade’s marriage to a man 20 years her senior included a clause and an understanding that there was to be no sex in their marriage. She remained devoted to her life as an artist, even saying that: “it is difficult to reconcile the domestic life with the artistic. A woman should choose one or the other.”
Q: Is there a link between Cecile Chaminade and women’s entrepreneurship?
A: Due to Cecile Chaminade’s family’s declining prospects and with the death of her father, her family came to rely on Chaminade’s skills as a composer to support her mother. She was successful in this, even touring the United States for several concert tours and receiving critical acclaim for her performances. Many Chaminade Clubs sprang up as a result of these concerts.
