Noteworthy Boulanger and Zwilich

Synopsis

It was on this day in 1913 that the French Academy of Fine Arts — for the first time in its history — presented its highest award, the Prix de Rome, to a woman. The honor was awarded to Lili Boulanger, who was just 19 at the time. She was born in Paris in 1893, the younger sister of Nadia Boulanger, who would become the most famous teacher of composition in the 20th century, numbering an amazing array of famous American composers among her students, ranging from Aaron Copland to Philip Glass.

Nadia’s sister Lili, however, suffered from poor health. Her tragically short career was interrupted by World War I, when she volunteered to nurse wounded soldiers. She died before the great conflict was over, on March 15, 1918, at 24.

Nearer to our own time, another woman, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, made history when she became the first woman composer to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music. That was in 1983, and the piece was her Symphony No. 1. Born in Miami, Florida, in 1939, she studied composition with Elliott Carter and Roger Sessions at Juilliard, and accomplished another first by becoming the first woman to earn the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition at the famous school. Her Symphony No. 3 was commissioned in 1992 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the New York Philharmonic.

Music Played in Today's Program

Lili Boulanger (1893-1918): Hymne au Soleil; New London Chamber Choir; James Wood, conductor; Hyperion 66726

Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939): Symphony No. 3; Louisville Orchestra; James Sedares, conductor; Koch International 7278

On This Day

Births

• 1864 - Brazilian composer Alberto Nepomuceno, in Fortaleza

• 1898 - German composer Hans Eisler, in Leipzig

• 1906 - English composer Dame Elizabeth Lutyens, in London

Deaths

• 1971 - Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong, 71, in New York City

• 1973 - German conductor and composer Otto Klemperer, 88, in Zürich

• 1999 - Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo, 97, in Madrid

Premieres

• 1963 - Leslie Bassett: Variations for Orchestra, in Rome. Following the American premiere on October 22, 1965 with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy, this work was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1966.

• 1968 - David Del Tredici: Syzygy (to a text by James Joyce), in New York City

• 1977 - Tippett: opera, The Ice Break at Covent Garden in London

Others

• 1913 - In Paris, the Grand Prix de Rome music award is given to 19-year-old French composer Lili Boulanger (1893-1918), the first woman to be so honored