Forgotten Legacies

The second chamber concert of the Spring 2020 season takes a fresh look at the rarities of the Finnish and Swedish musical heritages, and includes works by several female composers that, in spite of their success, have been unfairly sidelined in music history. Amanda Maier-Röntgen was the first female graduate in music direction ever from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, and she led a highly active though short life in the music world, befriending Johannes Brahms, Edward Grieg and Joseph Joachim, among many other influential musicians of the time. The Einar Englund piano quintet is heavily influenced by the Winter War and Englund's own participation in it. The aging Sibelius was highly favorable about the work and told the young composer that he should always remember it as the first milestone in your career.