Sorry to step again into this impassioned discussion (yes, I did once
already at some length, CLASSICAL archives -- January 2000 (#568), but my
message was left out of the thread, for I typed "Female composers" instead
of "Female Composers", silly me!).  All the more so since I have maybe a
weird question for all listers:

Does it make any difference to you if you know that the piece of music you
are listening to was composed by a woman?

I mean, in terms of expectations, appreciation, etc.

And does this change according to the historical period?

Somewhat related question: do you think that performers should take into
account the fact that a piece was primarily composed for a male or a
female musician (e.g.Schumann's piano concerto)?  Well, I admit that
this is a much larger debate.

Sorry if this was debated at length already, I didn't find it while quickly
browsing the September 1998 "Women Composers" thread.  But I did find some
posts about "the best" or "the two best" women composers.  Was there also
a thread about the best male composer, or rankings for the top 10 male
composers of our time? Not that I'd be interested at all, but I am just
curious:-)

Best wishes,

Thanh-Tam Le
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