Today, we step back from the massive forces and raging sorrow of Corigliano to a work that's considerably more tranquil and serene. Germaine Tailleferre was born in a suburb of Paris in 1892, and originally studied piano with her mother before ultimately winding up in the Conservatoire de Paris. Her father refused to support her musical endeavors, and to spite him, she refused to go by the name she was given at birth. (Tailleferre had to deal with a lot of bullshit in her life as a female composer, living and working in a time when Aaron Copland could confidently proclaim that women had an innate block against composing well. It's hard to escape the feeling that one of the reasons she's so little known is pervasive sexism.)