“The Names of Woman” recognizes six women from different eras and cultures 

who have been unjustly neglected by history.

The six-part cantata was commissioned by the Dal Sogno Ensemble

Malaika Alvaro, soprano; Diane Taublieb, flute; Morrie Sherry, clarinet; Mara Milkis, violin; 

Leslie Tomkins, viola; Wanda Glowacka, cello

Premiere: January 6, 2024; Bargemusic, Brooklyn 

2025 National Finalist, The American Prize, Charles Ives Award

 

Part One: AMELIA BASSANO LANIER

AMELIA BASSANO LANIER (1569-1645) was the first woman to assert herself as a professional poet in Elizabethan England; she is thought to be Shakespeare’s “Dark Lady” and possibly the author of some of his work.  In this excerpt, she revisits the Bible and the story of the expulsion from Eden; in her retelling, she absolves Eve and blames Adam.

(From Amelia Bassano Lanier: Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum, 1611)

Part Two: ALFONSINA STORNI

ALFONSINA STORNI (1892-1938) was an Argentine poet, essayist and playwright, one of the first women to find success in the male-dominated areas of literature and theater in Buenos Aires; following a double mastectomy, she committed suicide by slowly walking into the sea.  With humor and irreverence, she mocks the small-minded and small-endowed men who deny her freedom.\

(Hombre pequeñito: Translation by Rhina P. Espaillat; published in Mezzo Cammin, Fall 2010; used by permission)

Part Three: CHRISTINE DE PIZAN

Christine de Pizan (1364-1430) was a prolific, highly influential medieval author and poet, a critic of men’s treatment of women and of their misogynistic literary representations, and a defender of women’s moral and intellectual equality.   She wonders, in her despair, why she was not made a man…

(Text based on excerpts from Christine de Pizan’s La Cité des Dames, ed. Eric Hicks & Thérèse Moreau, translated and arranged by Stefania de Kenessey)

Part Four: JIGONSASEH

JIGONSASEH (ruled 1687-1689) was a legendary Iroquois Peace Woman who battled the French invaders successfully, defeating the largest European force ever assembled in North America.  This ballad tells the story of her unprecedented victory.

(Lyrics by Stefania de Kenessey; source: "Iroquoian Women: The Gantowisas" by Barbara Alice Mann)

Part Five: SOR JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ

SOR JUANA INÉS DE LA CRUZ (1648-1695) was a colonial Mexican writer, philosopher and poet, as well as a Hieronymite nun, who wrote in both Spanish and Nahuatl; named "The Tenth Muse" and "The Phoenix of America" by her contemporaries, she was a fierce proponent of education and rights for women.

In this excerpt, she mocks the double standards of sexual behavior imposed by men on women.

(Excerpts from Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz “Stanzas: The Charge”, translated by Rhina P. Espaillat (The Liquid Pour in which my Heart has Run: Poems by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Wiseblood Books 2023))

Part Six: ENHEDUANA

ENHEDUANA (2285-2250 BC) was a Mesopotamian high priestess and a prolific poet who created forms (prayers, psalms, hymns) that are recognized to this day. For hundreds of years after her death, her work was copied by scribes learning cuneiform writing; she was the world’s first author to name herself.

Here, she prays to Inana, the all-powerful goddess of life and death.

(From Enheduana by Sophus Helle, Copyright 2023 by Yale University. Used by permission of Yale University Press.; last line added by Stefania de Kenessey)