Taylor Swift, Missy Elliott and Ariana Grande have taken home major honors at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards. Swift won the top accolade for her gay rights anthem, "You Need to Calm Down."
Image: picture-alliance/Photoshot
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Women dominated at the 2019 MTV Video Music Awards in New Jersey, with Taylor Swift winning Video of the Year and rapper and singer-songwriter Missy Elliott taking home the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for lifetime achievement.
Taylor Swift kicked off the night with a strong performance of the hit that won her Video of the Year, "You Need to Calm Down," a song that carries a powerful anti-homophobic message.
Taylor Swift's colorful rendition of "You Need to Calm Down"Image: Getty Images/B. Bedder
"In this video several points were made," said Swift, wearing an oversized rainbow-colored suit jacket. "You want a world where we are all treated equally under the law," she added, noting that the winner was voted for by the fans themselves.
An absent Arianda Grande took home the Artist of the Year award, and Billie Eilish, who was on tour in Russia, won best new artist, push artist of the year and best editing.
Missy Elliott brought her colorful, eccentric and groundbreaking music videos to life, from "Work It" to "Lose Control."
"I've worked diligently for over two decades and I never thought I would be standing up here receiving this award," Elliott said.
Missy Elliott won the lifetime achievement for her work over the past two decadesImage: picture-alliance/abaca/L. Hahn
Elliott dedicated her lifetime achievement award to the dance community and listed Janet Jackson, Madonna, Peter Gabriel and Busta Rhymes among her music video inspirations.
She also honored the R&B icon Aaliyah, who she had been close to and collaborated with. The 18th anniversary of Aaliyah's death was Sunday.
Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus' "Old Town Road," the longest-running number one song in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, won song of the year.
The awards closed with a performance by artists who are from New Jersey, including Queen Latifah, Redman, Wyclef Jean, Naughty by Nature and Fetty Wap.
Focus on women composers: Schumannfest 2019
Writing music was long a men's domain. The after-effects are enduring, with women composers still only seldom turning up on playbills. Here are some seldom-heard female composers featured at the Schumannfest in Bonn.
Image: Public Domain/Walter Albertin
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Her father Friedrich Wieck trained her to become a superstar among pianists. Her husband Robert Schumann was ambivalent about her performing and composing activities. To Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann was an esteemed adviser and intimate friend. But with Clara Schumann research getting underway in recent years, she is gradually emerging from under the shadow of the men in her life.
Image: Schuhmannfest
Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759-1824)
Blind from age four, she played piano at the Austrian court as a child and was celebrated on concert tours. Mozart is said to have written a piano concerto for her. But Maria Theresia von Paradis was also a composer. Art songs, piano works and chamber music created by her first appeared in print in 1786. She also wrote two piano concertos, cantatas and operas.
Image: picture-alliance/akg-images
Emilie Mayer (1812-1883)
The first professional woman composer in music history was celebrated across Europe as the "female Beethoven." Emilie Mayer never married. After her death, her music was largely forgotten, and only a small part of her oeuvre including eight symphonies, 15 concert overtures and diverse chamber music works has been published.
"The most brilliant woman I have ever encountered" was how Clara Schumann described her. Pauline Garcia was one of the 19th century's greatest vocalists. Her marriage to the author Louis Viardot in 1840 was a boon to her compositional activities: he did everything he could to support her. After her stage career ended, she had many productive years as a composer.
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Lil Hardin Armstrong (1898-1971)
The most prominent woman in early jazz played piano, sang, composed and arranged music for the best bands in New Orleans. In 1921 she met Louis Armstrong; they married three years later. She was a major factor in his success, writing songs like "Struttin' with Some Barbecue," "Don't Jive Me," "Two Deuces," "Knee Drops," "Doin' the Suzie-Q" and "Just for a Thrill."
Image: Imago Images/Leemage
Ann Ronell (1905-1993)
After studying under the American composer Walter Piston, she met George Gershwin, who hired her as a rehearsal pianist. That was Ann Ronell's ticket to Broadway. In 1932 she wrote her most famous song "Willow Weep for Me." Later on came music for cartoons, film scores and ballet music.
