Tailleferre

For the mesmerizing three-minute “Fandango,” with Germaine Tailleferre’s luxurious, light piano composition of the same name, two groups of dancers whirled and leaped in the studio, while Morris watched and directed over Zoom from his home, telling them, “Go over there and stick this leg up,” or, “No, the other way!”

There’s nothing explicitly spring about “Ballade,” a short orchestral work completed in 1922 by the Parisian composer Germain Tailleferre — the only female member of “Les Six,” critic Henri Collet’s moniker for a somewhat arbitrarily grouped circle of composers working in Montparnasse in the ’20s.

“The Future Is Female” Pianist Sarah Cahill performs a livestream recital featuring works by women composers including Germaine Tailleferre, Margaret Bonds and Gabriela Ortiz.

I came across Germaine Tailleferre when researching French orchestral music of the early part of the 20th century and was shocked that I hadn’t heard of her before.

The pioneer was probably Germaine Tailleferre, a French composer who co-scored a travelogue in 1926.