As those in the classical music world have sought to bring more attention to previously overlooked or marginalized composers, particularly women and composers of color, the Internet and social media have provided new opportunities to discover details, research and music by these composers, and to share this with others. A Tempo host Rachel Katz this week speaks with two women who have created online resources devoted to two of the better-known women composers from the Romantic era - Pianist Molly McCann, whose HenselPushers website shares sheet music of many of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's works that have not been readily available, and Sarah Fritz, a writer, public musicologist and faculty member of Westminster Conservatory of Rider University, who created the Clara Schumann Channel to shed light on Clara Wieck Schumann's life and works. They'll discuss the contributions and influence of these two composers, the challenges and privileges they faced as women composers in the 19th century, and the push-back and fierce debates that sometimes arise online about Hensel's and Schumann's place in the musical canon.
Online Media Offer Ways to Build, Support (and Sometimes Fight For) Appreciation for Clara Schumann, Fanny Hensel and Others
