Struggle with prejudice and major obstacles posed to them in a field dominated by men has been the perennial concern of women composers. Those few who have asserted themselves notwithstanding this surely deserve our respect and attention. Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979), an English-born American, was an exquisite viola player who did a lot to truly establish its status as a solo instrument. Although her career as a composer was limited in time to the period between her twenties and fifties, she left a legacy of around one hundred works betraying her profound knowledge of contemporary music, notably that of the French Impressionists.

The name of Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-1940) has been capturing an ever increasing attention of audiences in this country and beyond. The story of her life, cut short all too prematurely by tuberculosis, became the subject of a novel by Jiří Mucha (Podivné lásky; Au seuil de la nuit in French). More recently, her fate inspired Kateřina Tučková´s play, Vitka). A talented composer and conductor, supported during her stay in Paris by Bohuslav Martinů, she has inevitably left only a limited compositional legacy. In it, her Trio for Wind Instruments remained unfinished. It was completed in 2011 by oboist Stéphane Egeling.

Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel (1805-1847) was no exception in getting neither acknowledgment nor adequate platform for her undeniable compositional talent. She was actually told that composing was appropriate for her brother, Felix, while her mission as a woman was entirely different. Consequently, her music – understandably not copious – would only be performed during the family´s household soirées. Apart from that of course, like her brother, Fanny died while still young.

                                                                                                  sleeve-note: Dita Hradecká / translation: Ivan Vomáčka