Few modern classical music aficionados have heard of Ruth Gipps (1921-1999). She was a gifted composer, an oboist, and a pivotal figure in overcoming prejudice against women composers in England. She wrote five symphonies and many other works.
To introduce her work to you, I've chosen her Symphony No. 2, published and first performed in 1945. Briefly, it expresses musically the outbreak of World War II, the years of violence, and the homecoming of her husband at the end of the war. Thoroughly Good Classical Music says of it:
The second symphony feels like a continuous sequence of contrasting short movements that the series of four movements you might expect from a more orthodox symphony of the time. But what makes it a Thoroughly Good Symphony is that there’s something, even if you can’t put your finger on what it is exactly, that holds the whole thing together – the story of a film without the film getting in the way, if you like.
Gipps writes brilliantly for the brass section – listen out close after the start for some blistering brass ensemble writing which should make you go weak at the knees. Listen out for The March too – highly descriptive, with an irrepressibly rousing English folk music influence to it that is reminscent of Vaughan Williams’ Folk Song Suites (assuming you’re familiar with them). The slow movement around which the entire 20-minute work pivots is utterly ravishing, with a horn solo that seems to hang in mid-air. The ‘tranquil’ moment which follows has at its heart a playful pastoral melody that still manages a modern and original feel to it. Glorious stuff. It seems incredible to me this was written and premiered in the same year as Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes.
There's more at the link.
You'll find more of her music on YouTube. I'm enjoying it.
Peter
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