Marie Damaschino (1844-1921) France
- andreachamizoalber
- Aug 31
- 1 min read
Composer born in Paris, known under the pseudonym Mario Foscarina.
She wrote piano music, songs, chamber music, and orchestral works. Below I share her Venetiene Suite, a four-movement work composed in 1888 dedicated to her teacher, Ernest Guiraud. It premiered in 1889 at a concert in Paris, along with works by Wagner and Saint-Saëns. You can find a piano reduction of the work at the link.
If you search the imslp website, all of her music appears under the pseudonym Mario Foscarina. Perhaps because she had to change her name, there's so little information about her. The only thing I found on Wikipedia was that she was the sister of Dr. François Théodore Damaschino, the widow of Fernandès Patrikios, and a possible student of the pianist Jacques Herz. Only a list of relationships with other men tells us anything about her, but who was she really?
I share her brilliant Rondo Op. 15 and the link to download the score.
On the same imslp page there are a total of 42 works (many more than there are by several female composers), which makes it even more strange that there is so little information about her.
La Aldeana, a village song, is a work from 1888, first written for piano and then for orchestra. It was performed in Paris in 1889. The link to the score I'm sharing is the first version she made for piano, although the video includes the orchestral version.
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