CELEBRATING THE VOICES OF WOMEN COMPOSERS IN THE SELECTED CELLO COMPOSITIONS FROM THE NINETEENTH AND EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURIES

Abstract

This dissertation examines five cello compositions written during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by women composers, whose works have been largely forgotten in the cello literature until recent times. The works surveyed are Three Pieces for Cello and Piano by Nadia Boulanger; Sonatas for Cello and Piano by Luise Adolpha Le Beau, Henriëtte Bosmans, and Dora Pejačević; and Sonate Dramatique: Titus et Bérénice for Cello and Piano by Rita Strohl. Though far from being comprehensive, this paper aims to serve as a point of reference in providing an overview of the musical contents in each work as well as biographical and historical information on the composers and their works. For the two cello compositions whose published copy is not easily accessible in the United States (Dora Pejačevic’s Sonata for Cello and Piano and Rita Strohl’s Sonate Dramatique: Titus and Bérenice), the publisher information and the place of contact for access to the sheet music are included in the introduction section.