Susan Tomes brings overlooked women composers to the fore on new album
Pianist Susan Tomes has assembled a varied and engaging collection of music by women pianists and composers, inspired by research for her book on female pianists through history. The album brings attention to composers whose work was often confined to salons and domestic settings, and Tomes’s sensitive playing helps these pieces make a persuasive case for wider attention.
The dozen composers include familiar figures such as Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn and Cécile Chaminade, alongside lesser-known musicians. Highlights include Marianne Martines’s sparkling A major sonata, a Mozartian sonata by Marianna von Auenbrugger, Teresa Carreño’s *Un Bal en Rêve* and Raie Da Costa’s syncopated *Razor Blades*. The reviewer praises Tomes’s poetic touch and Hyperion’s natural sound.
- Susan Tomes explores music by 12 women pianists and composers.
- The collection pairs familiar names with lesser-known composers.
- Sensitive performances give the music room to shine.
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Susan Tomes, a pianist, has released an album featuring music by women composers spanning several centuries. The album draws on research Tomes conducted for a book exploring the history of female pianists, bringing lesser-known works to public attention.
Many of these composers, including Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn, created music during an era when women's artistic contributions were often limited to performance in drawing rooms and salons rather than public concert halls. The album includes both familiar names and more obscure figures whose talents remain underappreciated today.
By presenting these compositions alongside one another, the album makes a case for why these overlooked works deserve wider recognition and reconsideration by modern audiences and musicians.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “Women and the Piano album review – Tomes brings her poetic instincts to a rewarding compilation”.