Anna Beer

Desde el nacimiento de la mºsica clásica, las mujeres que se atrevieron a componer fueron tratadas, en el mejor de los casos, con condescendencia: su vida sexual era objeto de escrutinio y a menudo servia para cuestionar su autoria. Sin embargo, las ocho protagonistas de este ensayo Caccini,Strozzi, Jacquet de la Guerre, Von Martines, Hensel, Schumann, Boulanger y Maconchydesafiaron las convenciones sociales que trataban de excluirlas del ambito artistico y, pese a las adversidades, lograron fraguar una obra propia. Desde la Florencia renacentista hasta el Londres de la decada de 1940, Anna Beer nos acerca a las extraordinarias vidas y obras de estas compositoras, narra las vicisitudes que experimentaron, explora las circunstancias en las que crearon sus principales piezas y considera los motivos por los que, aºn hoy, estas siguen sin interpretarse. Armonias y suaves cantos es una celebracion del talento y la tenacidad de unas creadoras injustamente ignoradas por el canon musical, y un retrato informado e inspirador de unos logros artisticos dignos de nuestro legado cultural.

Anna Beer investigates the lives and achievements of eight women writers uncovering a startling and unconventional history of literature Margery Kempe Aemilia Lanyer Aphra Behn Lady Mary Jane Austen Warned not to write and certainly not to bite these women put pen to paper anyway and wrote themselves into history Smart funny and highly readable a tour de force A L Kennedy Ever since Sappho first put stylus to papyrus women who write have been labelled mad undisciplined and dangerous Funny and provocative Eve Bites Back offers an alternative history of English literature Placing the female contemporaries of Chaucer Shakespeare and Milton centre stage Anna Beer builds a vibrant new canon through Restoration wits scandalous sensation novelists and medieval mystics Delving into the lives and work of eight pioneers Julian of Norwich Margery Kempe Aemilia Lanyer Anne Bradstreet Aphra Behn Mary Wortley Montagu Jane Austen and Mary Elizabeth Braddon Beer uncovers the struggles and triumphs of these gamechangers ground breakers and genre makers

Margery Kempe. Aemilia Lanyer. Aphra Behn. Lady Mary. Jane Austen.Warned not to write and certainly not to bite these women put pen to paper anyway and wrote themselves into history.Smart, funny and highly readable... a tour de force. A.L. KennedyEver since Sappho first put stylus to papyrus, women who write have been labelled mad, undisciplined and dangerous. Funny and provocative, Eve Bites Back offers an alternative history of English literature. Placing the female contemporaries of Chaucer, Shakespeare and Milton centre stage, Anna Beer builds a vibrant new canon through Restoration wits, scandalous sensation novelists and medieval mystics.Delving into the lives and work of eight pioneers Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, Aemilia Lanyer, Anne Bradstreet, Aphra Behn, Mary Wortley Montagu, Jane Austen and Mary Elizabeth Braddon Beer uncovers the struggles and triumphs of these gamechangers, ground-breakers and genre-makers.

A BBC History Magazine Book of the YearA writer, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer, Sir Walter Ralegh lived more lives than most in his own time, in any time. The fifth son of a Devonshire gentleman, he rose to become Queen Elizabeths favourite, only to be charged with treason by her successor.Less than a year after the death of his Queen, Ralegh was in the Tower, watching as the scene was set for his own execution.Patriot or Traitor is the dramatic story of his rise and fall.

The hidden history of the women who dared to write music in a mans world.Lucid, engaging and exuberant... [Sounds and Sweet Airs] is terrifically enjoyable and accessible, and leaves one hankering for a second volume. The Sunday TimesFrancesca Caccini. Barbara Strozzi. Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. Marianna Martines. Fanny Hensel. Clara Schumann. Lili Boulanger. Elizabeth Maconchy.Since the birth of classical music, women who dared compose have faced a bitter struggle to be heard. In spite of this, female composers continued to create, inspire and challenge. Yet even today so much of their work languishes unheard.Anna Beer reveals the highs and lows experienced by eight composers across the centuries, from Renaissance Florence to twentieth-century London, restoring to their rightful place exceptional women whom history has forgotten.