Women composers for kids: ten to know and a piece by each

Women have written music in every century. For most of history, few of them could publish it or have it played in public, so their names were left out of the books. This list has ten women composers across about 900 years, with a short story and one piece to hear for each. Three of them have a full page on this site: Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, and Florence Price.

Ten women composers

1. Hildegard of Bingen (1098 to 1179)

Hildegard was the head of a community of nuns in what is now Germany. She wrote books on medicine and nature, advised popes and kings, and wrote songs for her nuns to sing. Her music is among the oldest we can still link to a named composer.

Hear: “O virtus Sapientiae.” One line of melody, sung by high voices with no instruments.

2. Barbara Strozzi (1619 to 1677)

Strozzi was a singer in Venice. She published eight books of her own songs, which was rare for any composer of her time and rarer still for a woman.

Hear: “Che si può fare.” A slow song over a short pattern in the bass that repeats again and again.

3. Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665 to 1729)

She played the harpsichord for King Louis XIV of France as a small child, and the court took her in. She went on to write harpsichord music, sonatas, and an opera that was staged in Paris.

Hear: A dance from one of her harpsichord suites.

4. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805 to 1847)

Fanny wrote more than 400 pieces. Most were not printed in her lifetime, and a few came out under her brother’s name. Read Fanny Mendelssohn for kids.

Hear: The piece for your birthday month from Das Jahr.

5. Clara Schumann (1819 to 1896)

Clara played her first big concert at nine and performed for more than 60 years. She wrote a piano concerto as a teenager. Read Clara Schumann for kids.

Hear: The first of her Three Romances for violin and piano.

6. Cécile Chaminade (1857 to 1944)

Chaminade was a French pianist who toured many countries and sold her piano pieces in great numbers. Music clubs named after her sprang up across the United States.

Hear: Concertino for flute. The flute sings a long, sweeping tune and then shows off.

7. Ethel Smyth (1858 to 1944)

Smyth was an English composer of operas. She joined the fight for women’s right to vote and wrote its marching song. When she was sent to prison for the cause, she is said to have led the other women in singing by waving a toothbrush from her cell window.

Hear: “The March of the Women.”

8. Amy Beach (1867 to 1944)

Beach was an American pianist who taught herself to compose from books. In 1896, the Boston Symphony Orchestra played her “Gaelic” Symphony. She was the first American woman to have a symphony played by a major orchestra.

Hear: “A Hermit Thrush at Morn.” She wrote down the song of a real bird and built a piano piece around it.

9. Lili Boulanger (1893 to 1918)

In 1913, at 19, Lili Boulanger became the first woman to win the top French prize for young composers. She was often ill and died at 24. Her older sister, Nadia, became a famous teacher of composers, including Aaron Copland.

Hear: “Of a Spring Morning.” Five minutes of bright, quick music.

10. Florence Price (1887 to 1953)

In 1933, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played Price’s Symphony No. 1. She was the first Black woman to have a symphony played by a major American orchestra. Read Florence Price for kids.

Hear: “Juba Dance” from Symphony No. 1.

Why there are fewer famous names

For centuries, a woman could study music at home and play for guests. She was seldom allowed to hold a paid post at a court or a church, to study composing at a conservatory, or to have a symphony played. Music that is not printed or performed is soon lost.

Some women published under a man’s name, or under initials. Scholars are still finding and printing music that sat in boxes for a hundred years or more.

Women composers today

Women now write for orchestras, films, games, and choirs around the world. Ask your local orchestra which living composers it is playing this season.

Things to do together

Place them in time. Fanny Mendelssohn, Clara Schumann, and Florence Price are on the composer timeline. Add the other seven by hand on the timeline to print.

Print the fact sheets. Three of the composer fact sheets are for composers on this list.

Hold a listening week. Play one piece a day, and draw each one on a listening journal page.

Talk about fairness. Ask your child how it would feel to write a song and see someone else’s name on it.

For all the composers on this site, see the guide to composers by era.