Ewa Kowalski & Anna Rutkowska-Schock - HER JOURNEY: Flute and Piano Works by Women (2024)

The limitedness of each one of these experiences is transcended, precisely by their appearing together in this album. The pieces included span of more than a century, in which the role of femininity and women within music has dramatically changed, even though much evolution awaits the future. Whilst the striking quality of these works and the performers is apparent, there remains need for an album such as this, offering “ladies-only” music. True equality of gender in music will be reached only when there will be no necessity to create musical “safe spaces” for the female voice.
Until then, of course, initiatives such as this are not only laudable, but commendable and simply necessary.

The flute and piano duet lends itself especially well to such a project, since both instruments have a long history of female practice. In Western music (but also in other cultures) there are “gendered” instruments and others played by musicians of both sexes since time immemorial. At times, these gendered assignations are more or less justified, either by physical demands, or by extramusical associations.
For instance, instruments such as the trumpet or the drums, traditionally associated with military music, were virtually never played by female musicians for most of the history of Western music. Other instruments like the double bass or the tuba were considered unsuited to female players due to their size or weight. Finally, in some cases there were genuinely musical traits of an instrument which were considered plainly not feminine: the timbres and massive sound of some brass instruments, or the low register of some basses were segregated from the idea of properly female musicianship. Today, of course, no such taboos exist; however, either because there was a kernel of reason in some of these exclusions, or because ladies are simply unattracted by these instruments (or are unwilling to carry their immense cases everywhere!).

The flute and the piano, by way of contrast, have always been intimately tied to feminine musicianship, although, of course, neither of these instruments has been almost exclusively bound to it (as is the case with the harp, for instance). It can be said, therefore, that the flute and piano duet is one of the typical expressions of female music, particularly if conceived in the domestic dimension of home music-making, but with equally important presences on stage.

Bonis: Sonata “Belle Epoque” (composed in 1904)
The flute was one of the favourite instruments of Mel Bonis, the nom de plume of Mélanie-Hélène Bonis, the oldest among the composers represented here. The story of her life seems almost to evoke a nineteenth-century novel, a sadly predictable and pathetic one, at that. The child of a bourgeois family, her burgeoning musical talent was not recognised by her parents; she continued her self-guided piano study until age 12, when she was at last noticed by a family friend, who persuaded her parents to allow their daughter to receive musical education.
Despite minimal nurturing in early years, Bonis’ musical ability soared with the best teaching Paris had to offer: she studied under César Franck, amongst her fellow students, Claude Debussy and Gabriel Pierné.

Knowing that listeners would never take a female composer seriously, she wisely disguised her femininity under the pen-name of Mel Bonis. She also had to fight traditional French and Catholic notions of what was proper for a woman, even having a secret lover and a child which she hid for many years. Torn between accepting society’s prejudiced standards and fighting the whims of her parents caused her a lifetime of psychological struggles; in spite of this, her composing and teaching endured, leading to the dissemination of her oeuvre. Unfortunately, her works fell into quasi oblivion for many years after her death, until one of Mel’s granddaughters, working with musicologists, managed to unearth Bonis’ scores, and to play and record them.

The Flute Sonata marks a milestone in Bonis’ artistic life. Until then, her talent had expressed itself mainly in the form of short character pieces – from this Sonata onwards she tackled the august genres of formal art music. This pioneering work was to be followed by a Cello Sonata and a Piano Quartet.

Bonis premiered this Sonata herself, alongside with its dedicatee, Louis Fleury. The comparatively traditional structure of Bonis’ Sonata failed to find adequate appreciation amongst the elitist modern tastes of the French musical establishment. Disparagingly defined as scarcely a Sonata proper, but rather a “pastoral suite”, “short and unpretentious”, this gem is one of the works which rightfully earned Mélanie-Hélène Bonis lasting fame.

The other works in this Da Vinci Classics album are more recent, but, together with Bonis’ Sonata, harmonise in this “journey of journeys” within the world of female musicianship.

Harberg: Court dances (composed in 2017)
American composer and pianist Amanda Harberg is a known for bringing brightness, lyricism, and happiness to her works. Court Dances, initially inspired by the fast, syncopated bounce of a squash ball, grew into a joyous three-movement suite, referencing 16th and 17th century dances of the aristocracy. It was co-commissioned by a group of 57 flutists from around the world.

The first movement, Courante, reflects the lively character and triple meter typical of its Baroque namesake. The dramatic, flowing Air de Cour offers a beguiling and deceptively sweet contrast to the more rhythmic outer movements. The dynamic final movement, Tambourin, alludes to both the eponymous Provençal dance immortalized by Frenche Baroque composers, and the French drum through its accents, syncopation, and percussive effects.
Greenaway: Of Moths and Moonlight (composed in 2023)
Over many centuries, moths have been used as symbols of transformation, allegories for the fleeting nature of life. Artists are drawn to the moth’s beauty and fragility, as well as its elusive nature. When darkness descends, moths emerge, their iridescent wings like precious fluttering jewels, glittering in the moonlight. They dance longingly, flying amongst the stars for their nocturnal dances.
Of Moths and Moonlight evokes their delicate path through the night, with extensive use of soft piano tremolos, whilst the flute sings tenderly of the moth’s journey. This imagery becomes a metaphor for the unpredictability of life and the sense of loss and emptiness that accompanies the passing of a loved one. As the piece unfolds, we are drawn into a profound landscape, tinged with complex melancholy and evoking a deep sense of longing.
Along with this, there are also moments of sublime beauty and ethereal lightness.
As the piece nears its conclusion, it gradually becomes increasingly transcendent, bringing a sense of catharsis and release that transports the listener to a new place of understanding and enlightenment.
The brief and fragile life of the moth, whose contemplative companion is the moon resting among the stars, serves as a reminder of the intrinsic power of music to heal and transform our hearts and souls.
Of Moths and Moonlight was commissioned by the Bowral Autumn Music Festival 2023, where composer Sally Greenaway was the Festival Composer.

Fabiańska-Jelińska: Arabeska (composed in 2013) The inspiration for this composition was legendary composer Witold Lutosławski. His works are apparent in Fabiańska-Jelińska’s elements such as the overarching form and the features of the harmonic language, for instance in the construction and reconfiguration of sound agglomerates from several different chords. Equally seen are characteristics associated with the ‘arabesque’ – liberal use of ornamentation, lightness, transience of sound phenomena, and reference to the musical culture of the Middle East.

Lemon: Tangent Blues (composed in 2017)
This piece was written for Ewa Kowalski.
Tangent Blues is at its heart an honest blues, in the sense of a jazzy theme and variations. Karen Lemon’s work flies off on tangents (albeit arguably logical ones), as the composer states, rendering it like a jazz sonata form. Of course, it is a piece to be played with verve and swagger. Tangent Blues draws from the performer several “personas”, such as alarm clock, dragonfly, angel, double bass and braggart merchant, and of course, flutist, amongst others.
Chiara Bertoglio © 2024