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Historian Anna Beer tells the story of eight women composers and asks tough questions about why the silencing of their legacy continues today.

Beer ranges from 17th-century Florence to London in the Blitz as she uncovers the lives and works of eight exceptional artists. She asks why we no longer hear masterpieces such as Hensel’s The Year, Caccini’s arias and Boulanger’s setting of Psalm 130. And she explains why Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Marianna Martines, Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn), Clara Schumann, Lili Boulanger and Elizabeth Maconchy and their work deserve a better place in our cultural heritage. The talk will be accompanied by excerpts from their musical works.

Anna beer is a cultural historian and biographer and fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. Her books include Milton: Poet, Pamphleteer and Patriot, and Bess: the Life of Lady Ralegh, Wife to Sir Walter.

This event is one of a series at this year’s festival on forgotten women of history and part of the festival’s women in society programme sponsored by HSBC.