Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Nadia Boulanger: The great woman

Nadia Boulanger exerted a lasting influence upon classical music

Nadia Boulanger was the first woman to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York
Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.
Nadia Boulanger was the first woman to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.

The next entry in our women in music thread is Nadia Boulanger. Boulanger was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century but her main contribution was as a teacher as opposed to a composer or performer.

Video:

Boulanger documentary

...with subtitles

...with subtitles

Her influence upon American music was extensive as she numbered among her students the likes of Aaron Copland, Walter Piston, Roy Harris, and Virgil Thompson.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

"Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra"

...by Natalie Boulanger

...by Natalie Boulanger

Why so many American students for a teacher who barely left France except for WWII? She was a professor at the French-American Conservatoire de Fontainebleau during the summers. Copland was in her first class and went on to dedicate some of his compositions to Boulanger.

Boulanger was a composer herself and strove to win the prestigious compositional competition the Prix de Rome as her father had done in 1835. Emile Boulanger was 72 years old when Nadia was born in 1887. Nadia’s younger sister Lili did win the Prix de Rome.

Video:

Nadia Boulanger

...with student Emile Naoumoff (age 10)

...with student Emile Naoumoff (age 10)

I find Nadia’s music more enjoyable than Lili’s, but I’m not a judge of composition competitions. To some, Lili has the greater merit as a composer but illness took her at age 24.

Nadia dropped composing but did conduct throughout her life. She was the first woman to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.

Her conducting style was reported to be of contemplative. She limited the dynamic range and focused her attention on layering the textures of the music in such a way that “really loud” wasn’t a necessary element of the performance.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led
Nadia Boulanger was the first woman to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York
Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.
Nadia Boulanger was the first woman to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.

The next entry in our women in music thread is Nadia Boulanger. Boulanger was one of the most influential musicians of the 20th Century but her main contribution was as a teacher as opposed to a composer or performer.

Video:

Boulanger documentary

...with subtitles

...with subtitles

Her influence upon American music was extensive as she numbered among her students the likes of Aaron Copland, Walter Piston, Roy Harris, and Virgil Thompson.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Video:

"Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra"

...by Natalie Boulanger

...by Natalie Boulanger

Why so many American students for a teacher who barely left France except for WWII? She was a professor at the French-American Conservatoire de Fontainebleau during the summers. Copland was in her first class and went on to dedicate some of his compositions to Boulanger.

Boulanger was a composer herself and strove to win the prestigious compositional competition the Prix de Rome as her father had done in 1835. Emile Boulanger was 72 years old when Nadia was born in 1887. Nadia’s younger sister Lili did win the Prix de Rome.

Video:

Nadia Boulanger

...with student Emile Naoumoff (age 10)

...with student Emile Naoumoff (age 10)

I find Nadia’s music more enjoyable than Lili’s, but I’m not a judge of composition competitions. To some, Lili has the greater merit as a composer but illness took her at age 24.

Nadia dropped composing but did conduct throughout her life. She was the first woman to conduct the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony, and the Philadelphia Orchestra, among others.

Her conducting style was reported to be of contemplative. She limited the dynamic range and focused her attention on layering the textures of the music in such a way that “really loud” wasn’t a necessary element of the performance.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Next Article

Reader writer Chris Ahrens tells the story of Windansea

The shack is a landmark declaring, “The best break in the area is out there.”
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader