Nadezhda von Meck

In the week leading up to our celebration of International Women's Day, a series of essays celebrating five women who have been unacknowledged movers and shakers in the world of classical music down the ages. Each of these women overcame societal expectations or personal adversity to have real influence on the music of their day, and subsequently ours.Nadezhda von Meck was 46 and had recently lost her husband when she first wrote to Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky, who was in his mid-thirties, asking the rising star for some pieces to be played at her country house. Money followed in a registered envelope - an amount so big that it slightly embarrassed - but also dazzled - him. And that payment was only the start. For the 13 years that followed, Madame von Meck kept the composer in grand style.But the money came, and kept coming, on one condition: that the composer and his benefactor should never meet.Author and journalist Vanora Bennett, the eldest daughter of the flute player William Bennett and the cellist Rhuna Martin, tells the fascinating story of one woman's single-minded dedication to a cause she passionately believed in. Produced by Simon RichardsonTo find out more about Radio 3's International Women's Day programming follow @BBCRadio3 and the hashtag #womensday.