The figure of Eugenia Osterberger, the forgotten Galician romantic composer

Throughout our musical history, many female composers’ figures and legacies have always remained overshadowed in the male-dominated realm of 19th- and 20th-century music. Eugenia S. Osterberger (1852–1932) is one of them: a remarkable and overlooked Galician composer who blended Galician and Spanish traditional music with European academic styles. This research aims to shed light on Osterberger's life and work by performing her compositions with my instrument addressing the central question: “How can I share it engagingly with the audience?”. To carry out this project, the methodology involves a literature review of Eugenia’s context, story, and compositions; archive fieldwork to find the scores; the process of arranging and adapting her music for oboe or English horn; identification of Galician and Spanish folklore footprints and other styles in her pieces; and revision of tools for engaging audience. The culmination of this research will be to have all the essential tools to be able to create a performance that combines narration and music to bring Osterberger's legacy to life, making the audience enjoy and connect with my emotional engagement and with the composer. In addition, it is intended to make a new contribution to the repertoire for oboe and English horn and raise awareness of under-represented voices in music history, which may inspire others to rediscover forgotten composers. keywords: oboe, woman composer, Galicia, arrangements, traditional music, romanticism, English horn