10 (or so) favorite compositions by female composers

[Christo]

Off the top of my head:

Ina Boyle: Symphony No. 1 'Glencree'
Elizabeth Maconchy: Symphony For Double String Orchestra
Ruth Gipps: Symphony No. 4
Grace Williams: Symphony No. 2
Germaine Tailleferre: Concertino for Harp and Orchestra
Cécile Chaminade: Concertino for flute and orchestra
Lili Boulanger: Du fond de l'abîme
Ester Mägi: Symphony
Anne-Marie Ørbeck: Pastorale and Allegro for Flute and String Orchestra
Grażyna Bacewicz: Concerto for String Orchestra

[amw]

I did some math and music by women composers makes up only ~3.7% of my collection (and only ~13% of my collection of composers born after 1940) so I'm glad to see lots of unfamiliar names and works in this thread to explore.

[kyjo]

Off the top of my head:

Ina Boyle: Symphony No. 1 'Glencree'
Elizabeth Maconchy: Symphony For Double String Orchestra
Ruth Gipps: Symphony No. 4
Grace Williams: Symphony No. 2
Germaine Tailleferre: Concertino for Harp and Orchestra
Cécile Chaminade: Concertino for flute and orchestra
Lili Boulanger: Du fond de l'abîme
Ester Mägi: Symphony
Anne-Marie Ørbeck: Pastorale and Allegro for Flute and String Orchestra
Grażyna Bacewicz: Concerto for String Orchestra

I nearly included the Maconchy and Tailleferre works myself. I also greatly enjoy Tailleferre's 1st Piano Concerto.

[Brian]

Shoot, I forgot about Tailleferre. It's exciting to see the huge stylistic diversity in this thread. Only surprise is just one mention for Hildegard and zero for Barbara Strozzi.

Completely agree. The obvious exceptions are Ives and perhaps Gottschalk.

Definitely Gottschalk - a few jazz musicians in New Orleans still play his tunes.

[pjme]

A most interesting theme. Only 20th century choices. There are many more, of course:

Elisabeth Lutyens - I remember a quite extraordinary cantata "O saisons, o chateaux". And "Quincunx".
On YT many scores she wrote for horrorfilms!
and this charming romp:
https://youtu.be/2CYL8P0TlLg
On Belgian radio I heard many years ago the second pianoconcerto by French composer / pianist Odette Gartenlaub.
https://youtu.be/r-rXnYtBIlg
Belgo/British Pianist/composer Denise Tolkowsky was also a respected paedagogue. After the suicide of her husband piano virtuoso Alex Devries she devoted her life to helping young musicians. Her pianoconcerto is an exuberant concoction of Bartok, Liszt and Kachaturian...and a dash of jazz!
https://youtu.be/R7k1LH4aCW0
Dutch composer Henriette Bosmans is definitely not an expressionist.
It is easy to understand why Pierre Monteux loved her lovely pianoconcertino.
https://youtu.be/69QT3cwSXhI

Germaine Tailleferre (I love her harpconcertino) is definitely not the only French "compositrice":

Yvonne Desportes wrote two percussionconcertos for her son Vincent Geminiani (plenty of educational & chamber music on YT)
Elsa Barraine wrote two symphonies (1930-1938).
https://youtu.be/yPnUkjjfpp0
Adrienne Clostre.
Suzanne Demarquez 
Betsy Jolas : the Boston SO will play her Letters from Bachville.
Ginette Keller:
https://youtu.be/1FlX2gkwzL8
Marcelle de Manziarly
https://youtu.be/QcDW8pR6MO0
Composer-organist Henriette Puig-Roget wrote some large scale works I'd love to hear: Montanyas del rosello, Sinfonia Andorrana, a cello and a pianoconcerto...
Jeannine Rueff: several concertos, a Symphonietta, a ballet "Gargouilles"...

In Belgium Nini Bulterijs: a very expressionistic Symphony (used to be available on LP) and pianoconcerto.
Jacqueline Fontyn: https://youtu.be/Qygy4knO-5w

I almost forgot the quite extraordinary Symphony by Minna Keal (1909- 1999), which she wrote at 80! On cd it is coupled with (a gentler...) Cantilliation for violin and orchestra.

[some guy]

I'm looking forward to the day when this isn't even a thing. But since that day has not come, yet, here goes. Also note that these are pieces that do not simply rework genres from the 18th and 19th centuries, but make new things. (Composers, male or female, who do other things besides string trios and symphonies, don't get much traction on boards of this sort. That's another day I'm looking forward to. And since I already have 67 years, I do wish everyone would just hurry the hell up.)

Maryanne Amacher, Sound Characters
Michèle Bokanowski, L'étoile Absinthe
Anna Clyne, Choke
Beatriz Ferreyra, Un fil invisible
Emmanuelle Gibello, Labyrinthe|c104 goto N901
Christine Groult, Pierres Cantabiles
Elsa Justel, Gwerz
Christina Kubisch, Sechs Spiegel
Bérangèr Maximin, Bicéphale Ballade
Katsura Mouri (1/2 of "Busratch"), Memorium
Eliane Radigue, Trilogie de la Mort
Sachiko M, 1:2
Alice Shields, Coyote

A baker's dozen being "10 (or so)."

[Trout]

Limiting myself to 1 per composer:

Chin: Cello Concerto
Crawford Seeger: String Quartet 1931
Czernowin: MAIM
Gubaidulina: In Tempus Praesens
Hildegard: Ordo Virtutum
Monk: Dolmen Music
Neuwirth: Lost Highway
Saariaho: L'amour de loin
Soper: Voices from the Killing Jar
Wolfe: Anthracite Fields

[vandermolen]

New addition to my list:
'Slatta' Piano Concerto by Jorunn Vidar (Icelandic composer 1918-2017)

[musicrom]

Auerbach: 24 Preludes for Violin and Piano
Auerbach: Piano Trio
Chaminade: 6 Romances sans paroles
Clarke: Viola Sonata
Clyne: A Wonderful Day
Crawford Seeger: Theme and Variations, for piano
Gubaidulina: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
Musgrave: The Seasons
Schumann: Piano Trio in G minor
Viardot: Violin Sonatina

... this was honestly more difficult to come up with than I expected. I should fix that!