Donald Macleod delves into the life of Luise Adolpha Le Beau

Luise Adolpha Le Beau was a German composer, concert pianist, teacher and music critic. Although her music was performed as far afield as Calcutta and Sydney, her story is one of continual struggle for recognition and respect. Le Beau frequently met opposition to her works and to performance opportunities, Despite these set-backs, Le Beau forged her own path as a composer not only with works for her own instrument, the piano, but also with chamber music, opera, a symphony and many songs. She was determined to succeed, but after her death, without anyone to promote her works on her behalf, Le Beau soon fell into obscurity and was largely forgotten. This week, Donald Macleod is joined by guest Dr Katy Hamilton to shine a light on Le Beau’s music

Music Featured:

Piano Concerto in D minor, Op 37 (excerpt)

Presented by Donald Macleod

For full track listings, including artist and recording details, and to listen to the pieces featured in full (for 30 days after broadcast) head to the series page for Donald Macleod delves into the life of Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850-1927) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0025cfl

And you can delve into the A-Z of all the composers we’ve featured on Composer of the Week here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3cjHdZlXwL7W41XGB77X3S0/composers-a-to-z