Orchestrette Classique, later called Orchestrette of New YorkKarin Pendle, Women in Music, Indiana University Press (2001) (1932–1943) was an American chamber orchestra in New York made up of women musicians. It was founded in 1932 by conductor Frédérique Petrides (1903–1983), who served as conductor for the group until it ceased operations in 1943. She also founded the West Side Orchestral Concerts.The New York Times, obituary
A musical anomaly When, in 1933, Frédérique Petrides lifted her baton to give the first downbeat to the all-women instrumentalists of her Orchestrette Classique, this was an anomaly. Petrides was a pioneer, one of the first women orchestral conductors at a time when the idea of a woman wielding a baton was almost unthinkable.The Women-In-Music Movement, Then and Now ILWC (International League of Women Composers) Newsletter, Summer 1985, pp. 6–10
Founder and conductor, Frédérique Petrides' early years
On September 26, 1903, Frédérique Jeanne Elisabeth Petronella Mayer was born into a privileged life in Antwerp, Belgium. Her mother, Seraphine Sebrechts, an artist of many talents, was a well-known composer and pianist, as well as an accomplished painter and photographer.Art Institute of Chicago, Photography Collection, where Sebrechts photographs are housedJan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frédérique Petrides, University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville (1991) It was she who taught Frédérique theory and composition.Women in Music, An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present, Edited by Carol-Neuls Bates (1939– ) p. 259, Harper & Row Publishers (1982) And in 1923, the young musician emigrated to New York with the aim of becoming a conductor.Jan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frédérique Petrides pp. 4 and 9, University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville (1991)
The Orchestrette In 1931, she married journalist, Peter Petrides (Petros Agathangelos Petrides; 1896–1978),Agathangelos was the given name of Petros's father, as shown on the marriage certificate of Petros and Frédérique: Connecticut Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, Marriage License, September 5, 1931 who wholeheartedly supported her career, and encouraged her to found the Orchestrette Classique, of which he became the manager and publicist.Jan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, University of Arkansas Press pp. 10–11, Fayetteville (1991) Frédérique Petrides had learned that, in the 1930s, the only avenue open to women conductors was to establish their own orchestras.Jane Weiner LePage (1931–2008 ), Women composers, conductors, and musicians of the twentieth century, Volume ii, p. 194 Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey and London (1983) And in 1933,Jan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, Fayetteville (1991), University of Arkansas Press, p. 11 she introduced the Orchestrette, an all-women chamber orchestra, which had, based on what was being played,Women in Music, An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present, Edited by Carol Neuls-Bates (1939– ) p. 260, Harper & Row Publishers (1982 thirty to forty players in the ensemble; and which gave five to six concerts annually in Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, now Weill Recital Hall.Women in Music, An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present, Edited by Carol Neuls-Bates (1939– ) p. 262, Harper & Row Publishers (1982)
American composers During its twelve-year existence, the Orchestrette Classique, renamed the Orchestrette of New York in 1942,Jane Weiner LePage (1931–2008 ), Women composers, conductors, and musicians of the twentieth century, Volume ii, p. 201 Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey and London (1983) programmed little known works for small orchestra by established masters, and new work mainly by native and naturalized American composers.Jane Weiner LePage (1931–2008 ), Women composers, conductors, and musicians of the twentieth century, Volume ii, p. 199, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey and London (1983)
Very little new music was being presented at the time and the Orchestrette premiered and played works by David Diamond (Concerto for Chamber Orchestra), commissioned Norman Dello Joio, Aaron Copland (Quiet City), Samuel Barber (Adagio for Strings), New York PremiereJan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, p. 107 (1991) Paul Creston (Partita for Flute and Violin with String Orchestra and Concerto for Marimba with Orchestra), concerto commissionedJan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, pp. 106–108, (1991) Julia Smith (Episodic Suite), commissionedJan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, p. 105, (1991) Ulric Cole (Two Sketches for String Orchestra),Jan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, University of Arkansas Press p. 103 Fayetteville, (1991) Henry Cowell, American Melting Pot, Movement 1 Chorale: (Teutonic-American), world premiereJane Weiner LePage (1931–2008 ), Women composers, conductors, and musicians of the twentieth century, Volume ii, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey and London, p. 202, (1983)Gian Carlo Menotti (Pastorale), Ralph Vaughan Williams, (Flos Campi), US PremiereEdited by Carol Neuls-Bates (1939– ) Women in Music, An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present, p. 261, Harper & Row Publishers (1982) and others.Jan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville pp. 25–126, (1991)
The Orchestrette and Petrides received much coverage and praise in the press. Robert Simon, writing in The New Yorker on December 12, 1936, sums this up, "She concocts some of the best programs in town."Jane Weiner LePage (1931–2008 ), Women composers, conductors, and musicians of the twentieth century, Volume ii, p. 195, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey and London, (1983)
Premieres by the Orchestrette May 1, 1939 – Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, now Weill Recital Hall, (New York premiere)The Philadelphia Orchestra Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium, Perelman Stage, October 13, 2009, 8 PM, Notes on the Program, Samuel Barber (1919–1981) Adagio for Strings May 3, 1943 – Henry Cowell American Melting Pot: Set for Chamber Orchestra, Movement 1, Chorale (Teutonic- American) Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, now Weill Recital Hall, (world premiere) April 29, 1940 – Paul Creston, Concertino for marimba and orchestra, Ruth Stuber, soloist, Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, now Weill Recital Hall, (world premiere)"Concert Offered by Orchestrette; Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra Featured at the Carnegie Chamber Music Hall", The New York Times, April 30, 1940 October 14, 1940 – David Diamond, Concerto in E-flat major, Lonnie Epstein, soloist (piano), Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, now Weill Recital Hall, (world premiere)Pierre Van Rensselaer Key (1872–1945), Music Digest: Big Welcome for Gotham's Newest Critic; Virgil Thomson Gets Gilman Chair; Some Recent Recital Items, The Dallas Morning News, October 21, 1940Orchestrette in Concert, The New York Times, October 15, 1940 December 10, 1940 – Nikolai Myakowsky, Sinfonietta for string orchestra, Carnegie Chamber Music Hall, now Weill Recital Hall, (US premiere)Orchestrette is Heard; Women Players Introduce a Myakowsky Composition, The New York Times, December 11, 1940
An addendum of interest "An added note of interest—when Paul Creston was a young composer and unknown, it was Frédérique Petrides and her orchestra who premiered many of his compositions. Eventually his works were conducted by Arturo Toscanini, Leopold Stokowski, Eugene Ormandy and others. When he wrote Chant of 1942, Toscanini requested his permission to premiere the composition. Creston refused, saying permission would be granted only after the Orchestrette of New York played it. The piece was dedicated to Petrides and he remained true to the conductor who had given him his early opportunities. Eventually he added to the piece, and the New York Philharmonic programmed the composition.Jane Weiner LePage (1931–2008 ), Women Composers, Conductors, and Musicians of the Twentieth Century, Volume ii, p. 203, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey and London (1983)
A comment from a critic The World Telegram on April 22, 1941, printed, "When Miss Petrides runs short of standard material, she never delves among the sub-standard. She seeks instead the new and unfamiliar, and not once in eight seasons of concerts has she offered dullness as a substitute for guaranteed pleasure."
World War II Because the Orchestrette of New York was an ensemble of outstanding women musicians, with the advent of the Second World War and the draft, many of its instrumentalists were, for the first time, offered positions in the major symphony orchestras, as replacements for their masculine counterparts who were joining the front lines.Jan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, p. 4 (1991) Petrides, not wanting to stand in the way of her players' advancement, elected to disband the Orchestrette, which gave its last performance in 1943.Women in Music, An Anthology of Source Readings from the Middle Ages to the Present, Edited by Carol Neuls-Bates (1939– ) p. 263, Harper & Row Publishers (1982) From then on, until the end of her career in 1977, Frédérique Petrides conducted mixed orchestras and continued to program little known compositions by classical composers, and premieres of new works.Jane Weiner LePage (1931–2008), Women composers, conductors, and musicians of the twentieth century, Volume ii, pp. 210–219, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey and London (1983)
The Orchestrette publication ('Women in Music' newsletter) In addition to leading the Orchestrette, from 1935 to 1940, with the help of her husband, Frédérique Petrides edited and published the Women in Music newsletters,Jan Bell Groh (1936– ) Evening the Score: Women in Music and the Legacy of Frederique Petrides, p. 5 and pp. 25–126 University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville (1991) under the auspices of the Orchestrette. The only music periodical of its kind, it chronicled and championed the activities of women musicians from ancient Egyptian times to the then present. It was a publication with a circulation of over 2,500.Jane Weiner LePage (1931–2008 ), Women composers, conductors, and musicians of the twentieth century, Volume ii, pp. 203–204, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey and London (1983)
About the musicians In 1981, some forty-eight years after she founded the Orchestrette Classique Madame Petrides said: I kept my orchestra small because I wanted quality musicians—most of the women in the group were studying at the Curtis Institute, and the Juilliard School. One must remember that at that time only a very few women played bassoon, oboe, horn, clarinet and trumpet. Parents did not want their daughters playing these instruments because they were not considered ladylike. My idea was to keep the Orchestrette small and show what could be accomplished by good musicians—I did not stress women musicians. They were talented and many of my players were trained by excellent teachers from the New York Philharmonic. The concerts were unique since I programmed little-known works by the great masters, as well as premiering new works by young American composers.