Having a famous composer for a husband or brother can be complicated — especially for a 19th-century woman with creative aspirations of her own. Such was the case for several of the composers featured on the imaginatively curated and conscientiously performed concert presented by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra on Sunday, April 6, at The Huntington’s Rothenberg Hall. The evening was titled “Vanguard: Farrenc’s Nonet.”
In her opening comments, Margaret Batjer, LACO’s concertmaster and director of chamber music, said she sought to highlight five female composers from different generations and eras. In fact, three of the five — Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and Louise Farrenc — were born between 1804 and 1819 and active around the same time The remaining pieces on the concert, hailing from the 21st century, were by Nokuthula Ngwenyama (born 1976), a Gen Xer, and Sarah Gibson (1986–2024), a millennial. The program might have benefited from the inclusion of such mid-20th-century composers as Galina Ustvolskaya, Grażyna Bacewicz, or Sofia Gubaidulina.
Married to the celebrated Robert Schumann (1810–1856), Clara Schumann (1819–1896) struggled to assert her independence at a time when women were expected to remain in their husbands’ shadows. Raising eight children and tending to Robert’s precarious mental state also got in the way.
To open Sunday’s concert, LACO assistant concertmaster Tereza Stanislav and pianist Kevin Fitz-Gerald combined for a solid, understated, and elegantly balanced performance of Clara’s popular Three Romances, Op. 22 (1853). One might have wished for a little more fervor, especially in the concluding movement, marked “Leidenschaftlich schnell” (Passionately quick). But this was a thoughtful, attractive account with clean articulation and intonation that brought out the sadness underlying the apparent cheeriness.
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805–1847) grew up in a family rich with musical talent, including her younger brother, Felix. She composed prolifically, but her father promoted Felix while belittling her “musical occupations” as “an ornament” for domestic consumption only. Her supremely professional, serious, and unique voice emerges in her String Quartet in E-flat Major (1834), a work of Beethovenian intensity and rhythmic variety.
Violinists Jason Issokson and Carrie Kennedy, joined by violist Jonathan Moerschel and cellist Trevor Handy, played with accuracy and sensitivity to balance, although the dynamic levels lacked variety and the cello part failed to come entirely into focus.
Louise Farrenc (1804–1875) was more fortunate in her family situation. Her husband, the flutist Aristide Farrenc, supported her career and helped publish her works. Her unusual and highly original Nonet (1849) — for violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, and horn — won a place in the repertoire immediately and has endured as perhaps the best example of this rare genre.
LACO’s ensemble gave the piece a robust and forceful reading, with eloquent contributions from oboist Claire Brazeau and flutist Sandy Hughes. The score draws colorful contrasts between the strings and winds in witty question-and-answer exchanges, although the horn timbre seems underutilized. Vivacious and witty, with exaggerated dotted rhythms and waltz episodes, the Nonet simmers with an unmistakably French joie de vivre and humor.
A Los Angeles native, Ngwenyama offers a cerebral exploration of motion in Down (2022) for flute, viola, and harp. Minor scales descend in shimmering harmonics, sliding glissandos, and pizzicato. Harpist Anya Garipoli stole the show, displaying the many sonic possibilities of her instrument, especially in its mellow low register. Only at the very end does the music flutter upward in the flute.
Gibson’s I do not want horses or diamonds (2020) pays tribute to Clara Schumann. The title comes from Clara’s letter to Robert expressing her desire for a simple life of creativity. Borrowing a chord progression from the Three Romances, Gibson’s piece progresses from three notes on the violin to a lyrical violin duet (Batjer and Issokson) to fragmentary motifs on the piano strings (plucked by Fitz-Gerald). Pointillist and delicate, this modest study shifts through subtle shades of timbre and color.
Sadly, Gibson died last year, cutting short a promising career as a composer, teacher, and mentor. In her memory, her husband, Aaron Fullerton, and supporters have established the Sarah Gibson Foundation to support new music. At the concert, Fullerton announced that the first commission had been awarded to composer Julia Moss, who will write a string sextet to be premiered in November 2025.
