Farrenc is one of many composers whose music was lost to history (or, perhaps more accurately, silenced out of it). She rivalled composers whose popularity exploded as hers diminished. Listen to her roaring symphonies and ripper overtures, and you’ll understand the power of her work.
Benjamin highlights Farrenc’s “interesting approach to scoring and colour combinations that were unusual and experimental compared to her contemporaries”, and observes “a distinctive style that is something unique”.
We can now recognise the ingredients of a legacy that should have been wider celebrated: the prestigious awards Farrenc accumulated, her authority as an author of music resources, and her three-decade post as piano professor.
She achieved it all in the face of criticism – not of her music, but of her very self. Composer Hector Berlioz believed she was “a talent rare among women”. Her music was described as masculine – a trait then perceived as positive, and would have been used to explain her rising status in male-dominated circles.
Farrenc also faced a catch-22 when competing with the so-called masters of classical music. Benjamin notes: “Promoters and publishers might not give composers opportunities if their music was not already well known.”
Her overtures and three symphonies weren’t even published while she was alive.