When German composer Gerhard Staebler heard Chicago poet Angela Jackson read one of her poems at an artists’ retreat two years ago in San Francisco, he was inspired. Dedicated to four black American women writers, “Warriors” addressed the courage of groups fighting for political freedom. Staebler liked its message so much that he composed a choral arrangement around it.
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About the same time, local composer Annie Randall was similarly inspired by Sylvia Plath’s poem “The Applicant,” a bitter description of marriage as a cold, mechanical business transaction. “I wanted to make a statement about those kinds of institutions that devalue women,” she says. Unlike Staebler, though, she was familiar with the poem’s context. “I’ve been thinking about Plath’s poetry for a long time.”
Abbinanti has wanted to put together a concert of music with feminist themes for four or five years but hasn’t had the money. Last year, he took his idea to American Women Composers, a group that gives concerts and presentations about “serious” music composed by women. “We had been toying with the same idea, so when Frank came to us, we decided to pool our efforts,” says Casey Ginther, president of AWC.
“There are those who say you don’t have to attach a label to music to make it political, but I disagree,” Abbinanti says. “I think part of the process is to make your intentions clear.” Making political intentions clear started to become popular among serious composers in the late 60s, he says. And, Mitchell says, “Only within the last ten years would composers have been aware of feminism as a subject area.”
“Peace and Protest: Music of the Women’s Movement Worldwide” will be performed tonight, May 13, at 8 PM at Dearborn Station, 47 W. Polk. Tickets are $6-$8; call 248-2404 for details.
