HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZABETH

One of the social media initiatives at CAIC last year was a weekly #WomensHistoryWednesday post as we focused on the theme of last year’s Collaborative Works Festival, which celebrated the the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution through song. (The 19th Amendment is the one which granted most women the right to vote in the United States). We’ve rekindled the hashtag and weekly tradition this month for Women’s History Month, and it’s been a fun excuse to revisit some of the highlights from last year’s festival.

Êlisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, born March 17. 1665.

This Wednesday happens to be the birthday of Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, who was one of the incredible women who’s music featured as part of the festival’s opening concert, Women of the Baroque. Programming and performing Women of the Baroque was a truly mind-blowing exercise for me, as I had not before realized quite how many women were composing during the Baroque and the Renaissance. As I was researching all of the repertoire for that program, I was confounded that I hadn’t learned about these trailblazing women earlier in my music history education, and I found I was confused and perplexed as to why these women’s masterpieces weren’t performed more. Of course, the answer is sexism and the patriarchy. But it was jarring to see it so baldfaced and bold in the neglect of these beautiful works. In the end, the greatest challenge I had curating the program was deciding which gems to include amongst the plethora or riches I discovered.

A prolific composer who enjoyed the patronage of the Sun King, Jacquet de la Guerre was also a virtuoso harpsichordist. For the festival, we featured an aria from one of her many cantatas for solo voice and chamber ensemble based on stories from Greek mythology. In honor of her birthday today, CAIC posted the below video of that aria, which is extracted from her cantata, Le sommeil d’Ulisse.

Check out the entire program note from that performance here.

ÉLISABETH JACQUET DE LA GUERRE: Nos veoux…Dormés, dormés from Le sommeil d’UIlisse. Martin Davids, violin | Brandon J. Acker, theorbo | Craig Trompeter, viola da gamba | Mark Shuldiner, harpsichord