Women's Day

 If I remember rightly (a big if these days), my childhood Observer's Book of Music had, in its biographical section, only one woman composer – Ethel Smyth (who in appearance could easily be mistaken for a man). Today, thanks to decades of discovery and rediscovery, women composers past and present are certainly getting their due, and those composing today face none of the past impediments to success. Radio 3 has played a large and creditable part in this process, and today, this being International Women's Day, they are pulling out all the stops with an entire day's broadcasting devoted to music written (and often performed) by women. This might seem a little like overkill, but I'm not complaining: I'm grateful to Radio 3 for having introduced me in recent times to the likes of Barbara Strozzi, Cecile Chaminard, Florence Price, Amy Beach, the Boulanger sisters, Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, etc, etc. Meanwhile, I'm celebrating by reading an early Muriel Spark I hadn't read before: The Bachelors, in a 1950s Penguin paperback from my Chester uncle's library, price 3s 6d, cover drawing by Terence Greer – a volume of similar vintage to my Observer's Book of Music.