Description
Available as a DigiSleeve CD and on all digital platforms for download and streaming
Released: 4 March 2022
The Future is Female is a three-volume series which celebrates and highlights women composers from the 17th century to the present day. These recordings feature thirty compositions by women around the globe and includes many première recordings.
Composers in the series include Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Franghiz Ali-Zadeh, Leokadiya Kashperova, Deirdre Gribbin, Mary Watkins, Fanny Mendelssohn, Germaine Tailleferre, Zenobia Powell Perry, Gabriela Ortiz, Hannah Kendall, Chen Yi, Teresa Carreño, and many others.
The Future is Female, Vol. 1, ‘In Nature’
Sarah Cahill piano
Anna BON (1739/40– after 1767)
Keyboard Sonata in B minor, Op. 2, No. 5 (1757) [3]
1. I. Allegro moderato
2. II. Adagio non molto
3. III. Allegro
Fanny MENDELSSOHN (1805–1847)
4 Lieder, Op. 8 (1846)
4. I. Lied: Allegro moderato
5. III. Lied: Larghetto
Teresa CARREÑO (1853–1917)
6. Un rêve en mer (A Dream at Sea) – Etude-méditation (1868)
Leokadiya KASHPEROVA (1872–1940)
Au sein de la nature (In the Midst of Nature):
7. III. Le murmure des blés (The Murmur of the Wheat) (1910) [2]
Fannie Charles DILLON (1881–1947)
8 Descriptive Pieces, Op. 20:
8. No. 2, Birds at Dawn (1917)
Vítězslava KAPRÁLOVÁ (1915–1940)
Dubnová preludia (April Preludes), Op. 13 (1937)
9. No. 1. Allegro ma non troppo
10. No. 3. Andante semplice
Agi JAMBOR (1909–1997)
Piano Sonata: To the Victims of Auschwitz (1949) [1]
11. I. Allegro appassionato
12. II. Epitaph: Andante teneramente
13. III. Allegro
Eve BEGLARIAN (1958–)
(text: Ruth Crawford Seeger, 1901–1953)
14. Fireside (2001) [2]
Sarah Cahill voice
Deirdre GRIBBIN (1967–)
15. Unseen (2017) [2]
Mary D. WATKINS (1939–)
16. Summer Days (2020) [2]
Première recording [1]
Première commercial recordings [2]
Première recording on piano [3]
Recording venue: St. Stephen’s Church, Belvedere, California, 15–28 August 2021
Produced and recorded by Matt Carr
Press Quotes
“Here, then, is an alternative history of solo piano music – and one that’s delivered with real conviction by pianist Sarah Cahill” (**** / ***** BBC Music Magazine)
“Sarah Cahill, an eloquent new-music pianist, set her specialty aside in 2018 to present “The Future Is Female,” a series in which she explored works composed by women from the 17th century forward. She has turned these programs into three albums for First Hand Records.” (The Wall Street Journal)
“An outstanding highlight is the expressionist Sonata ‘To the Victims of Auschwitz’… Gribbin’s ‘Unseen’ (2017) and Mary Watkins’ ‘Summer Days’ – both of them powerful, intense, dramatic works…” (International Piano)
“Her [Cahill] exemplary performances here also serve to celebrate the variety of music composed by women over centuries excluded from the classical ‘canon’, and the next volume is eagerly awaited.” (Classical-Notes)
“This is a wonderful start to a promising project” (NewMusicBuff.com)
“Sarah Cahill’s The Future is Female is a project of admirable ambition and monumental scope.” (textura.org)
“This series is necessary because the past is very much not female, and if the present and future are going to be female (or at least strive for equality) then it is crucial we consider why female artists have neither been see or heard in the way their male peers have been.” (The Wire Magazine)
“Does it all work? Yes… There can be few reservations concerning either the sound, as good as it gets in terms of clarity and perspective, or the pianist’s detailed and informative annotations… Is it recommended? Indeed.” (Arcana)
“So all that as you give it some good listens stands out as well worth hearing and having. The music runs the gamut from early Classical through Modern and beyond. Very good music, very well performed. I thoroughly recommend it for those who find the idea interesting. It is all one could hope for and more besides.” (Classical Modern Music Blogspot)
‘Album of the Week’ (Classics Unwrapped – BBC Radio Scotland)
