Women Composers For centuries it was unusual for women to be composers, but times have changed. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1177) Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847) Amy Beach (1867-1944) Alma Mahler (1879-1964) Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) Lili Boulanger (1893-1918) Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1931) Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939) Libby Larsen (b. 1950)