Page:Woman Triumphant.djvu/232

 In another native of Vienna, Marianne Martinez, the qualities of many distinguished artists were combined. Not only did she sing beautifully, but she was likewise an excellent pianist; her compositions showed a vigor of conception together with extensive learning. She composed several cantatas, and a miserere, with orchestral accompaniment. Her oratorio "Isacca" was in 1788 produced by the Tonkuenstler Gesellschaft. Her salons, in which she gave weekly concerts, were the rendezvous of many musical celebrities.

Foremost among the women-composers of Germany was Clara Josephine Wieck-Schumann, the accomplished pianist and unexcelled interpreter of her husband's, Robert Schumann's, splendid works. She also produced a large number of songs of great merit, many of which have been published.

Francesca Lebrun, born 1756 at Mannheim, wrote several sonatas for piano, and trios for piano, violin and cello. Louise Reichard, of Berlin, Corona Schroeter, the famous artist of the 18th Century, Fanny Cecilia Hensel, born 1805 in Hamburg, and Josephine Lang, born 1815 in Munich, composed very beautiful songs. A "Suite for Pianoforte" (Op. 2) by Adele aus der Ohe has likewise received highest praise.

Among the women composers of France Elizabeth Claude Guerre, born at Paris in 1669; Edme Sophie Gail Garré, born in 1775, and Louise Bertin were the pioneers. Elizabeth Guerre's opera "Cephale et Pœris" was performed at the Royal Academie. She also composed a Te Deum, and a number of cantatas.

The most successful composer of recent years was Cécile Louise Stephanie Chaminade, born at Paris in 1861. Her most ambitious compositions are "Les Amazones," a lyric symphony with choruses; "La Sevillane"; "Callirhœ"; "Etude Symphonique," and a large number of compositions for piano, many of which became very popular.

Of Augusta Mary Ann Holmes, likewise a native of Paris, the opera "Hero et Leandre" had great success.

Of the women composers of England M. Virginia Gabriel was very popular. She wrote the cantatas "Evangeline" and "Dreamland," and the operettes "Grass Widows," "Widows Bewitched" and "Who's the Heir?" Leza Lehman was the author of the song cycle "In a Persian Garden," and of "Nonsense Songs." Clara Angela Macirone's anthem "By the Waters of Babylon" has been sung in all the cathedrals of Great Britain, and ballads, which, both for comic humor and pathos, rank Lady Helen Dufferin is known principally for her songs among the best in the English language. "The Irish Emigrant's Lament" compares favorably with any English lyric. Charlotte Sainton Dolby, Elizabeth Mounsey and Harriet Abrams