Songs by Clara Schumann, Poldowski and Amy Beach

The works of women composers have been consistently overlooked by music historians. New emphasis is now being placed on "women in music" in music departments and women's studies programs across the country. The works of many women are beginning to emerge from the neglect of the past, and are becoming recognized as compositions worthy of study and performance. This is especially true in the art song genre which because of the small forces involved, allowed for the possibility of performance, even if only in the home. The songs of these three composers represent three different styles. Although all were born in the nineteenth century, their styles of composition are as distinct as the poetry that each chose to set. Clara Schumann composed in the tradition of the early Lieder composers, setting texts of German Romantic poets. Irene Wieniawska's (known as Poldowski) music, which includes a large number of settings of Paul Verlaine, is predominantly in the French impressionistic idiom. Amy Beach was an American who set various English-speaking poets from Shakespeare and Robert Burns to her own husband and herself.