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| Amy Beach, an actual woman composer of the 19th century! |
It began with musicologist Kendra Leonard asking a music history account about their OTDs ("On This Date"):
Hey @musihist, what happened OTD in music history that isn't about a man? How about tomorrow? And the day after that?— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 15, 2017
Follow us and find out.— MusicandHistory (@musihist) December 15, 2017
Since Dec 1, you've posted more than 150 tweets. Only two are about women. That's a terrible ratio. https://t.co/8Uq1C94YtP— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 18, 2017
And THERE is the myth! Dr. Leonard summoned me:We can't change the fact that until very recently, women in western music were discouraged from pursuing composition. But we try to make known those who did, and are, creating great works.— MusicandHistory (@musihist) December 18, 2017
Note: She used my personal Twitter handle (@LindaHypen) instead of the one I use only for this blog (@MusHistCliches). Feel free to follow this account for musicological discussions like this one, but be aware that I also tweet about my cancer, my son, and my cat..@LindaHyphen want to take on the fallacious argument here that this site/account can't post equally about women because of biased historiography? https://t.co/kfbl7osESZ— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 18, 2017
Like many myths, it is based on a bit of truth: Women have historically been discouraged from composing. (Unfortunately, this continues today, for reasons that will be explained by someone else later in this post.) I've even gotten into a different Twitter discussion about this, with Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel as the prime example.
Just as women in general have been encouraged to focus on domestic matters and not work outside the home, they were discouraged from seeking advanced training in composition because it would distract from their household responsibilities. As Abraham Mendelssohn told his daughter Fanny, "for you [music] can and must only be an ornament, never the basis of your being and doing."
So, what makes this a myth?
Before I answered, musicologist Marian Wilson Kimber jumped in with source-based knowledge:
Between the 1920s and 1940s (quite a while back), the Knoxville, Tennessee, branch of the National League of American Pen women did annual concerts of music by member composers. 70, yes, 70 women got their music performed.— Marian Wilson Kimber (@MWilsonKimber) December 19, 2017
If music by 70 women was heard in Tennessee, sort of makes you wonder about the rest of the country, huh? Not to mention Europe. . .— Marian Wilson Kimber (@MWilsonKimber) December 19, 2017
Dr. Wilson Kimber is an expert on women composers in the 19th century (she prompted the post on Clara Schumann last year), so I'm grateful she could bring solid evidence to the discussion!I can't count the hundred year old programs I have seen with pieces by women on them. "Until very recently," my ass.— Marian Wilson Kimber (@MWilsonKimber) December 19, 2017
My contribution more directly explained why the initial statement is a myth:
I don't think I can refute this as thoroughly or elegantly as @MWilsonKimber already has, but I'll add my take anyway:— Linda Shaver-Gleason (@LindaHyphen) December 19, 2017
Yes, women have historically been discouraged from pursuing composition, something I've argued on Twitter...https://t.co/KMquYIDzkL
But "discouraged" is not the same as "completely prevented." Women have been composing all along, as @MWilsonKimber's research indicates. Other forces have suppressed our knowledge of the women in history: a narrow focus on the overwhelmingly male cannon (dvlp'd in the 19th c)...— Linda Shaver-Gleason (@LindaHyphen) December 19, 2017
...and the PERPETUATION and narrowing of that cannon by music appreciation classes and radio station. Yes, historical women are harder to find than men, but not at the ratio of 1:75! It's also easier to find them now than ever, thanks to research and info sharing.— Linda Shaver-Gleason (@LindaHyphen) December 19, 2017
I need to clarify a few things in this post: The canon is perpetuated by more than what I've mentioned. PLENTY of books about classical music contribute to this narrowing, as have risk-averse concert programmers. And now we have websites that reinforce the idea of Great Masters.— Linda Shaver-Gleason (@LindaHyphen) December 19, 2017
BUT we also have websites dedicated to canon-busting, bolstered by current musicological research, AND we have the opportunity to discuss the issues with more people than ever!— Linda Shaver-Gleason (@LindaHyphen) December 19, 2017
Rob Deemer clarified my post with updated information:To that end, @musihist, you have an opportunity to bring exposure to these historical women composers, and others have already done the hard part for you! Check out @robdeemer's database of 2775 women:https://t.co/t8MfhojVIP— Linda Shaver-Gleason (@LindaHyphen) December 19, 2017
The conversation spread out in many directions! I've included as many pertinent Tweets as I could find, but I may have to update this to include more as I become aware of them. I also omitted Tweets that got too personal or otherwise didn't seem to move the conversation forward.(We're already up to 2864 and rising every day!)— Rob Deemer (@robdeemer) December 19, 2017
This is terrific. With respect to my conversation yesterday with @K_Leonard_PhD and @KeepngComposure (who blocked me), the easy availability of this resource makes it inexcusable not to have at *least* one female composer every day. Amazing work.— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) December 19, 2017
One challenge here is the vastness of the database. I'd love a resource that makes suggestions like: "If you like ABC male composer, try XYZ female composer." I'll be exploring the data anyway, but points of reference would be super helpful.— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) December 19, 2017
Women are still discouraged from pursuing composition.— Erin Marie Hoerchler (@KeepngComposure) December 18, 2017
Yes, and when sites like @musihist insist on citing male composers 99% of the time, it perpetuates the idea that women can't be composers.— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 18, 2017
How does it perpetuate the idea that women can't be composers?— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) December 19, 2017
Because when students only see men’s names on their music and in history books, they learn that composers are men.— Erin Marie Hoerchler (@KeepngComposure) December 19, 2017
Then they grow up to be teachers who only teach music by men, and the cycle continues.
Each generation learns that women don’t or can’t contribute.
I absolutely believe women's contributions to music should be elevated and celebrated, and women today should be encouraged into the field. But I'm not sure what you just described is within the control of @musihist's OTD tweets...— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) December 19, 2017
Some of the women who follow OTD don’t feel elevated or celebrated by the 99% male content.— Erin Marie Hoerchler (@KeepngComposure) December 19, 2017
These problems are solved by everyone making an effort and perpetuated by everyone avoiding responsibility.
So why not start @womenmusihist and make it happen?— Jeff Gordon (@urbanstrata) December 19, 2017
Because it shouldn't have to be segregated.— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 19, 2017
Weird how women have been “on the cusp of equality” in music for like 100 years.— Erin Marie Hoerchler (@KeepngComposure) December 18, 2017
*whispers*— Alan Theisen (@AlanTheisen) December 19, 2017
The canon is a method of gatekeeping for everyone involved.
A 365 day OTD feature on women who were discouraged from becoming composers sounds like an excellent idea to me. Nannerl Mozart’s wedding day on Aug. 23 comes to mind for a start. That leave 364 days that I am sure can easily be filled.— Cristin O'Keeffe (@Aspasia_1) December 18, 2017
@musihis I bet that could be done easily without referring to women in music's personal lives even--their professional accomplishments (concerts, premieres, recordings, etc) could fill an entire calendar many times over!— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 18, 2017
In fact, my thought in pointing to Nannerl Mozart was based on her established professional music accomplishments in concerts plus the fact she was a composer. So, yes, indeed!— Cristin O'Keeffe (@Aspasia_1) December 18, 2017
Oh, I get it--her wedding date ended her composition career. :( Yeah, we could totally fill up years' worth of OTDs on women composers getting shut down. I could begin w/all of the women Nadia Boulanger told should stop composing, get married, & pop out some new *male* prodigies.— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 18, 2017
Exactly. We need to celebrate the women who did prevail & are prevailing as composers. But I am also calling @musihist’s bluff that the fact women have been (and thanks to attitudes like theirs, continue to be) discouraged from composition has no historic significance.— Cristin O'Keeffe (@Aspasia_1) December 18, 2017
#Musicology friends, if any of you send students to this source, check out their perpetuation of calling attention to male composers in vast numbers over women & non-binary people. https://t.co/kfbl7osESZ— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 18, 2017
argh!! also why is "music history" here only = composition?— Musicology Duck 🎶🦆 (@MusicologyDuck) December 19, 2017
Yesterday's convo centered around that, but also touched on performance. Obv, representation in non-classical music (& I'm still searching for good alt to "classical") is an issue too, but wasn't part of original issue w/ @musihist's sexism.— (((Kendra Leonard))) (@K_Leonard_PhD) December 19, 2017
So ends Part 1! But the conversation kept going, particularly once Emily E. Hogstad shared her thoughts. (Look for Part 2 to be posted tomorrow!) [UPDATE: Here's Part 2!]
Thank you to everyone who joined this conversation and made it as enriching as it turned out to be!
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteWould you be able to direct me to some sources in support of Kendra Leonard's statement above that "Nadia Boulanger told [women composers that they] should stop composing, get married, & pop out some new *male* prodigies"? I haven't considered that Boulanger's legacy of predominantly male composition students was in part her own doing, and would appreciate more information.
Thanks!
You can find primary sources for my claim in my book The Conservatoire American: a History.
DeleteOh and also here: http://www.kendraprestonleonard.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Excellence-in-Execution.pdf
DeleteExcellent. Thank you.
DeleteHi Linda, thanks for the blog!
ReplyDeleteWould someone please update @robdeemer the correct spelling of Peggy Glanville-Hicks? (Not Gianville). I’m not on twtter.
Kim.
Hello, Kim! Unfortunately, Twitter doesn't allow users to edit their Tweets once they've posted. (I use the wrong canon/cannon in tomorrow's post, and I can't fix it!) But thank you for the clarification on Glanville-Hicks's name, for the people who may have never heard of her until this post.
DeleteWe have scores from more than 1800 women composers in our archive Frau und Musik here in Frankfurt
ReplyDeletewww.archiv-frau-musik.de
Thanks as ever, Linda! And thanks to Kendra for starting this discussion. My own read is that we need to rethink what we consider under the umbrella of "authorship"--that just because women didn't compose (or didn't compose in the way we expect them to, creating "great works" that can withstand scrutiny as text along criteria established to justify a canon chosen a priori to adhere to those criteria), that doesn't mean that they weren't active agents within their musical environments. In any case, hurrah for your work and for those seeking to elevate women of the past and present!
ReplyDeleteWell, I entirely missed this discussion, or I would have joined! This is exactly the kind of filing-cabinet-drawer writing/research that Salon Without Boundaries is wanting to confront. I agree that music history shouldn't be segregated, but men have had the rostrum for hundreds of years, so I think some evening up is needed - as this points up perfectly.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Twitter roundup! I missed the majority of this when it was going on.
ReplyDeleteA book I've been reading that helps to debunk the "women haven't composed much" myth, as well as point out a number of reasons why the music that female composers *did* write was suppressed, is "Sounds and Sweet Airs" by Anna Beer. Apologies if you already know of it, but I would recommend it to people who aren't otherwise acquainted with women composers in music history.
It's on my to-read list! With all that's going on RIGHT NOW, I should move it up so I read it sooner rather than later.
DeleteI missed this on Twitter too.
ReplyDeleteThis kind of filing-cabinet drawer research that dismisses women and their part in Music and broader culture is exactly why we started Salon Without Boundaries. As Marion points out, there were more women being programmed historically than now -including opera. And I do agree that we shouldn’t need to segregate, but after centuries of positive discrimination for men, I think some particular pointing up of women and their output is necessary.
That's how I address the issue of "Why do feminists want more for women when we should be working for equality?" My response is that it would be great if we were starting with a level playing field; then equality would be a matter of maintaining the status quo. But that's just not the situation we inherited, and we have to do a lot of compensating before we even get to equality.
DeleteAs for the timeliness of this discussion, this article in the Boston Globe ran the day after this entry posted: Area musicians call on BSO to diversify programming.
ReplyDeleteBonjour,
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post. I have to search for Women composer's works on Apple Music since they show me almost only men composer's works. So far I have found 1189 albums with works by women only. You can see all those albums with links to Apple Music on my site michellemonette.net It is in French but the names of the albums are mostly in English. These 1189 albums are part of 2806 albums with works by women (1290 Women actually). When I look at new releases,trying to find recorded works by women, I found an average of 2 or 3 albums on 100 new releases. I also search for reviews about the 1189 albums, but they are hard to find.