By far the most important name in this field of woman's work is that of
Agnes Zimmermann. Born in Cologne in 1847, she received her musical
education in London. At the Royal Academy of Music she studied piano
under Pauer and Potter, afterward attaining high rank as a performer. In
composition, her teachers were Steggall and George Macfarren. She won
the silver medal of the Academy, and obtained the king's scholarship
twice, in 1860 and 1862. In the next year she made her London debut, and
a year later appeared with the Gewandhaus orchestra at Leipsic. Her fame
as a classical pianist was soon established, and her excellent work in
editing the sonatas of Beethoven and Mozart bore added testimony to her
musical knowledge. Her compositions include a piano trio, three violin
sonatas, a suite and other pieces for piano, and a number of songs. Her
clear style and thorough musicianship have given these works more than a
passing value, and she is reckoned to-day as one of England's leading
women composers.
Still more numerous than the violin composers are the women who have
shown their ability merely in the form of a few piano pieces. Almost
every eminent performer is at some time tempted to express his own
musical thoughts in writing. Such has been the case with Arabella
Goddard, the famous pianist. Born near St. Malo, in 1838, she played in
her native place at the age of four. At six she was studying with
Kalkbrenner at Paris. At eight she played before Queen Victoria, and
published six piano waltzes. Among her maturer works are an excellent
ballade and several other piano selections. Dora Schirmacher, born in
1862, was less precocious, but won the Mendelssohn prize at Leipsic,
where she studied under Wenzel and Reinecke. Her works consist of a
suite, a valse-caprice, a sonata, a serenade, a set of tone pictures,
and so on. Amina Beatrice Goodwin was another child prodigy, first
playing in public at the age of six. She studied with Reinecke and
Jadassohn at Leipsic, Delaborde at Paris, and finally with Liszt and
Clara Schumann. She has published many piano selections, besides
founding a pianoforte college and publishing a good book of practical
hints on technique and touch. She is married to an American, Mr. W.
Ingram-Adams. The list of piano composers might be extended much
further, but these are the most representative names.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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