Pioneers: Piano Works by Female Composers Hiroko Ishimoto

• Dora Pejačević (1885 - 1923):
• 1 Blumenleben, Op. 19: No. 5, Rose 02:24
• Cécile Chaminade (1857 - 1944):
• 2 Valse-Caprice, Op. 33 05:09
• Anna Bon (1739 - 1769):
• 3 6 Harpsichord Sonatas, Op. 2: No. 2 in B-Flat Major 06:44
• Clara Schumann (1819 - 1896):
• 4 3 Romances, Op. 21: No. 1 in A Minor, Andante 05:15
• Agathe Backer Grøndahl (1847 - 1907):
• 5 3 Morceaux, Op. 15: No. 3 in G Minor, Humoresque 04:13
• Amy Beach (1867 - 1944):
• 6 Hermit Thrush, Op. 92: No. 1, The Hermit Thrush at Eve 04:58
• 7 2 Piano Pieces, Op. 54: No. 1, Scottish Legend 03:38
• Emma Kodály (1863 - 1958):
• 8 Valses viennoises 09:57
• Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918): 3 Morceaux:
• 9 3 Morceaux: No. 1, D'un vieux jardin 02:54
• 10 3 Morceaux: No. 2, D'un jardin clair 01:54
• 11 3 Morceaux: No. 3, Cortège (Version for Piano) 01:28
• Chiquinha Gonzaga (1847 - 1935):
• 12 Cananéa (Arr. for Piano) 03:22
• 13 Água do Vintém 02:04
• Agathe Backer Grøndahl:
• 14 3 Piano Pieces, Op. 35: No. 2, Albumblad 02:15
• Tekla Badarzewska-Baranowska (1834 - 1861):
• 15 Douce rêverie in G Minor 01:52
• Florence Beatrice Price (1887 - 1953):
• 16 Piano Sonata in E Minor: II. Andante 04:23
• Tatiana Nikolayeva (1924 - 1993): Children's Album, Op. 19 (Excerpts):
• 17 Children's Album, Op. 19 (Excerpts): No. 1, March 01:00
• 18 Children's Album, Op. 19 (Excerpts): No. 2, Music Box 01:15
• 19 Children's Album, Op. 19 (Excerpts): No. 3, Old Waltz 01:18
• Vitezslava Kapralova (1915 - 1940):
• 20 April Preludes, Op. 13: No. 2, Andante 02:45
• Haruna Miyake (b. 1942):
• 21 43 Degrees North (2019 Version) 07:19
• Total Runtime 01:16:07

Info for Pioneers: Piano Works by Female Composers

This fascinating collection of rare and distinctive piano works, from the 18th century to the present, is inspired by stories of how women composers created music while meeting the expectations of family and society. Hiroko Ishimoto brings together a remarkably varied programme including works by Ana Bon who was chamber music virtuosa at the Prussian court of King Frederick the Great, the bold harmonies of Vítzslava Kaprálová (a student of Martin), as well as pieces by Amy Beach based on the calls of the hermit thrush, and so much more.

"Growing up in Japan, I always had an interest in feminism, but it never influenced the way I thought about music, until I wrote the essays on 24 female composers (published on Women's Action Network website WAN), a series of Youtube videos and now this recording. The stories of how these talented women managed to express themselves through music while at the same time struggling to meet the expectations of their family and society inspire me. Success and tragedy touched many of them, but their music lives on, and I want to share them with the world." (Hiroko Ishimoto)

Hiroko Ishimoto, piano

Hiroko Ishimoto
Born in Sapporo, Japan, Hiroko Ishimoto studied at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where she went on to lecture, and The Juilliard School in New York where her professor was György Sándor, the great Hungarian-American pianist and leading pupil of Béla Bartók. Highly acclaimed by The New York Times and Japanese magazine The World of Music, Ishimoto also devotes time to her piano students, and currently resides in Budapest.

The Cultural Ministry of Japan invited Ishimoto to perform at concerts for children affected by the Fukushima tsunami from 2011 to 2015, and she is an active member of the Women’s Action Network (WAN) in Japan. Her series of essays and performances on YouTube of Women Composers in the Shadows of Men has garnered worldwide attention, and she gave Japanese concert tours of these works organised by WAN in 2017 and 2018. She regularly gives performances of this project in Hungary and Japan.

Ishimoto has released two albums in Japan, My Favorites and Hungary and Beyond. Japanese radio station NHK FM broadcast Hiroko’s performance of works by Amy Beach nationwide on 1 January 2017. She has been interviewed in major Japanese newspapers the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Asahi Shimbun.

Booklet for Pioneers: Piano Works by Female Composers