Where are all the women-composers?

Anyone not too scared off by something contemporary may care to catch Sally Beamish's second 'cello concerto (UK premiere) broadcast on Tuesday night and on the BBC i Player. I heard it broadcast whilst working in the kitchen and decided it was worth a proper listen when I could concentrate.

Evgeniya-

The "fact" that you refer to here is a cultural construct and has absolutely no bearing on the realities of the creative capacities of women. In point of fact, the female brain tends more toward creative activity than does the male brain.

As we know, history is written by the winners. Music history is really no different. Female composers of past eras may seem more "conservative" than their male counterparts not because there is a fundamental or "natural" difference between women and men based on their roles, but because women had much more restricted access to music of the day and to legitimate music theory training because of those prescribed roles.

In addition, the fact is that patriarchal, male-dominated societies (such as the moneyed European societies that fostered the creation of classical works) quashed the efforts of female composers. There are women composers throughout history whose repressed works are slowly being brought to light or finally represented as their own work rather than the work of a father, brother, or husband. In addition, women not connected to successful composers or musicians of the day had little to no chance for publishing, as the work of women was often dismissed without consideration or vilified as stolen from men. Beyond that, women of color or from other cultural traditions were so much the worse off in this situation. Who knows how many works by women composers never saw an instrument or a printing press?

Historically,you've got Hildegaard von Bingen, Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Colbran, Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, Alma Mahler-Werfel, Clara Wieck, Cecile Chaminade, Liza Lehmann, Amy Beach, Pauline Viardot, Johanna Beyer, and Lili Boulanger.

In any event, the idea of female composers as off-brand versions of their male cohort is an obsolete cliche. In the 20th century, the first time that women are able to make a legitimate and widespread claim to higher education, women composers are often at the forefront of creative impulses.

Look at Cathy Berberian, Emma Lou Diemer, Joan Tower, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Tania Leon, Hilary Tann, Libby Larsen, Julia Wolfe, Jennifer Higdon, Gabriela Ortiz, Liza Lim, Gabriela Lena Frank, Lera Auerbach, and Augusta Read Thomas.

The music of women composers is a rich catalogue. You just need to care enough to find it, listen, and make your decisions.

Don't forget Ethyl Smythe and Grace Williams.  

A book was published a few years ago listed all the women composers.

Robert.

Hear hear. Some of the most significant composers of the past century were women, however obscure their work was to the general public. Ruth Crawford (later Crawford-Seeger) was a serialist in America before it was fashionable. Her scant output included Suite 1931 for string quartet, one of the most advanced American works for its time. Elisabeth Lutyens was a serialist in the postwar UK, languishing in obscurity until the music world caught up with her in the 1980s. Americans Barbara Kolb and Augusta Read Thomas still compose bold, original music for world-class orchestras, even though more conventional composers such as Jennifer Higdon receive more attention.

-Gary

Four favorites of mine that I don't think have been mentioned here:

Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) -- English. Her underrated opera "The Wreckers" may still be available on CD, and in my opinion holds up well even against Peter Grimes.

Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969) -- Polish. her excellent violin concertos have been issued on 2 CD's from Chandos in fine performances

Chen Yi (1953-) Chinese-American. Wonderful blend of eastern and western material, superbly imaginative orchestrater.

Tania Leon (1943-) Cuban-American. Alas, very little of her work is recorded, but "Bata" and "Carabali" are fine orchestral pieces.

I'll second any recommendation of Lili Boulanger -- a composer of Mussorgskian power and visceral impact, especially in the choral/orchestral work. Eliz. Maconchy is also fine, but rather cool and cerebral.

Happy listening!