by Jarrett Hoffman

63RD GRAMMY AWARDS:

It was a big night for women at the socially distanced Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, H.E.R., and Meghan Thee Stallion took home the top four prizes — album, record, and song of the year, and best new artist, respectively. On top of that, Beyoncé’s 28th award gave her the most ever for a female artist. She tied Quincy Jones for 2nd all time behind the 31 wins belonging to none other than Georg Solti.

Speaking of figures from classical music history, composer Ethel Smyth (above) won her first Grammy, 77 years after her death, when Smyth: The Prison was named Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. The recording of The Prison — her final major work — features soprano Sarah Brailey, bass-baritone Dashon Burton, conductor James Blachly, and the Experiential Chorus and Orchestra. (According to Classic FM, the only historical female composer to even be nominated before Smyth was Amy Beach).

As Blachly told that same publication:

Dame Ethel Smyth’s music has been undervalued for too long, and this Grammy win is the recognition that she has deserved for decades…90 years after its premiere, I’m excited for this career-culminating masterpiece to finally be heard throughout the world’s great concert halls.

See the full list of winners here (scroll way down to find the classical categories — a humbling experience). Plus, a few links to dive in deeper: highlights from the awards show, a rundown from The New York Times of the evening’s best moments (particularly Meghan Thee Stallion’s speeches and performances) as well as its cringiest, and a handy guide from Syracuse.com breaking down the differences between some of the more similar-sounding awards. (Record? Album? Song?)

ON THE WEB TODAY:

Les Délices celebrates “Women in Music” with an episode of SalonEra at 7:30 pm featuring harpsichordist Byron Schenkman, violinist Shelby Yamin, and soprano Michele Kennedy. The program includes music by Francesca Caccini, Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda, Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, Maddalena Sirmen, and Clara Schumann. Read our interview with Michele Kennedy here, and watch the concert here.

And Musical America highlights other concerts of interest from further afield, including a program from extended-technique vocalist and composer Holland Andrew, a celebration of violist William Primrose from CMS Lincoln Center, violinist Gil Shaham with The Knights, and the Rochester Philharmonic’s “Truth Is of No Color” with music by Jessie Montgomery and Carlos Simon.

TODAY’S ALMANAC:

French composer Lili Boulanger, the first woman to win the Prix de Rome (and the younger sister of Nadia Boulanger), died on this date in 1918 at the age of 24 of what we now know as Crohn’s disease. Her story is remarkable for what she was able to accomplish not only in such a short career, but despite suffering poor health throughout her life.

In fact, her chronic illness played a part in her intense pursuit of a career in composition. In The Life and Works of Lili Boulanger, Léonie Rosenstiel writes that composing

provided Lili with the means to decide her own future as much as possible, and to show her family, her friends, and, above all, herself, that she was capable of being considered a contributing member of the artistic and intellectual community in which she lived. In other words, it gave Lili the chance to develop a positive self-image…Lili’s physical dependence on others, especially her immediate family and their servants, was often total, but she enjoyed complete intellectual and artistic autonomy.

Illness forced her to withdraw the first time she entered the Prix de Rome. A year later, at age 19, she won for her cantata Faust et Hélène, bringing her a contract with an important publisher — meaning a steady income, and a platform on which to grow her career.

By the time of her death five years later, her output numbered over 50 works. Perhaps most famous is her Psalm 24, as Daniel Hathaway noted in a Diary entry on August 21, the anniversary of Boulanger’s birth.

Another standout is the haunting and beautiful Pie Jesu. Listen to a spectacular performance here by Paul Jacobs and Christine Brewer in an arrangement for organ and soprano — four minutes of haunting yet subtle music to give you goosebumps of the soul.