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Her guest is broadcaster and journalist Emma Barnett, the presenter of Radio 4's Woman’s Hour and a Faithless devotee who once walked out of a performance of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony.

So, what will Emma make of Clemmie’s all-woman classical line-up?

1. Maria Szymanowska

Born in 1789, Polish composer Maria Szymanowska is now regarded as one of the first professional virtuoso pianists of the 19th century – paving the way for legends like Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann. But life wasn’t exactly easy for Maria.

Clemmie and Emma record a special IWD edition of Classical Fix via videocall

“She was a single mum, three kids, and she toured Europe,” Clemmie says. “Everyone wanted to see her. And that point it was very, very difficult for a woman to make her name as a musician – let alone all those other things that she had to do. I take my hat off to her.”

Hear Maria Szymanowska’s Nocturne in A flat major on Classical Fix.

2. Anna Meredith

Anna Meredith is a Scottish composer, producer and performer whose 2019 track "moonmoons" blew Emma’s mind.

“This song is single-handedly one of the best gifts I've ever been given,” she raved. “I actually said ‘yes!’ out loud when I was listening to it. I have listened on repeat ever since you gave it to me – I didn't know music like this existed!”

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Meredith’s music defies easy categorisation. “She is fearless and she doesn't care if it's classical or pop: it's just music,” says Clemmie. “Very few people can inhabit all these different soundscapes and make it work. She's the real deal.”

3. Margaret Bonds

Born in Chicago in 1913, Bonds’s life and career were shaped both by the Harlem Renaissance and the American Civil Rights movement. She was among the first African American composers to gain widespread recognition in the US – and, as a pianist, was the first black musician ever to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Bonds’s frequent collaborations with poet Langston Hughes provided the text for the song we hear on this episode of Classical Fix – Dream Variation. These words really resonated with Clemmie: “To fling my arms wide / In the face of the sun, / Dance! Whirl! Whirl! / Till the quick day is done…”

“[Bonds] did lots of different things in her music, but she was really actively seeking to challenge negative perceptions of black identity, [and] celebrating beauty in blackness,” Clemmie says. “She's just awesome and incredibly inspiring.”

4. Lera Auerbach

Lera Auerbach is a fascinating figure for Clemmie: “She's an absolutely brilliant mind, a proper polymath: a painter, a poet, a novelist and obviously a musician and a very brilliant pianist.”

Emma loved the haunting quality of this piece on Clemmie’s playlist – the eighth of Auerbach’s 24 Preludes for violin and piano. “It has a sorrow to it, but a muscular sorrow,” she says. “I wasn't going to be crying into my tea: I was going to be sobbing with passion.

"It brought to mind quite a lot of my Jewish roots: I associate music in the minor [key] with that, and [with] thinking about family and the journeys you go on as families.”

Hear Lera Auerbach’s music (No. 8 from 24 Preludes for violin and piano) on Classical Fix.

5. Florence Price

And finally, a piece that had Clemmie's three-year-old bopping away - Nimble Feet by Florence Price. It’s a winner for Emma, too: “It’s like a drunk little robin, flying around, being very happy,” she says. “I read about six newspapers every morning when I’m working, and the news at the best of times is pretty grim - but this made me smile. It’s infectious in its joy."

Florence Price was a teacher of Margaret Bonds, whose music we heard earlier in the mix. Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1887, she was the first African American female composer of renown in the States during her lifetime.

“Can you imagine the odds that were stacked against her?” asked Clemmie. “[But] she just got on with it. She is just so exuberant and she's so joyful.”

Emma Barnett joins Clemmie Burton-Hill for a special International Women's Day edition of Classical Fix. To hear all of the tracks, listen to the podcast now on 91热爆 Sounds.