The Rediscovery of Charlotte Sohy: An evening of film, music & conversation

Maison Française is hosting The Rediscovery of Charlotte Sohy on Friday 23 October, from 6.00 to 8.00pm. It's an evening built around the UK premiere of the France Télévisions documentary Charlotte Sohy: la consécration d'une compositrice, which aired on France 3 and got reviewed by Le Parisien and Télérama. After the film, the directors Matthias Weber and Laurence Uebersfeld will be joined by music writer Peter Quantrill for a Q&A, and the night finishes with a recital of Sohy's Petite Suite and Piano Trio Op. 24, performed by Gina McCormack on violin, Adrian Bradbury on cello, and Reiko Fujisawa on piano.

Charlotte Sohy (1887-1955) was a French composer who wrote songs, piano pieces, chamber music, an opera, and a symphony. She studied under Louis Vierne and Vincent d'Indy, and for her opera she adapted a story by Selma Lagerlöf, writing the libretto herself. For decades, her work was largely forgotten, partly because she signed her pieces 'Ch. Sohy' to keep her gender quiet. The rediscovery started with her great-grandson, the filmmaker Matthias Weber, who began sorting through family manuscripts in 1974. It took another forty-five years for her symphony to finally get its premiere, which happened in Besançon in 2019, conducted by Debora Waldman.

The evening follows that same thread: the documentary tells the story of her life and the effort to bring her music back into the light, the Q&A lets the people who made the film talk through it, and the recital lets you actually hear the music. Reiko Fujisawa, who's known for championing neglected women composers, rounds things off with the chamber music. It's a full arc in one night — the story, the conversation, and then the sound.

Admission is free, but you'll need to book in advance. The event runs from 6.00 to 8.00pm at Maison Française d'Oxford, Norham Road, OX2 6SE.