Gender and the Musical Canon

by Marcia J. Citron

A classic in gender studies in music Marcia J. Citron's comprehensive, balanced work lays a broad foundation for the study of women composers and their music. Drawing on a diverse body of feminist and interdisciplinary theory, Citron shows how the western art canon is not intellectually pure but the result of a complex mixture of attitudes, practices, and interests that often go unacknowledged and unchallenged. Winner of the Pauline Alderman Prize from the International Alliance of Women in Music, Gender and the Musical Canon explores important elements of canon formation, such as notions of creativity, professionalism, and reception. Citron surveys the institutions of power, from performing organizations and the academy to critics and the publishing and recording industries, that affect what goes into the canon and what is kept out. She also documents the nurturing role played by women, including mothers, in cultivating female composers. In a new introduction, she assesses the book's reception by composers and critics, especially the reactions to her controversial reading of Cécile Chaminade's sonata for piano. A key volume in establishing how the concepts and assumptions that form the western art music canon affect female composers and their music, Gender and the Musical Canon also reveals how these dynamics underpin many of the major issues that affect musicology as a discipline.

Genres: Music, Feminism, History, Womens, Nonfiction

307 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 1993

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This classic of feminist musicology discusses how and why canons are formed, what functions they serve, and how all of this has excluded women from the standard canon of western art music. Citron shows that canons are not neutral entities based solely on quality or merit. Instead, they reflect various social values and practices, including the perception of creativity, professionalism and the representation of gender in music. Citron examines not only the ways women were excluded from music education and professional activities, but also how their socialization of women in a patriarchal society affected their view of themselves as composers and musicians.
I very much enjoyed this book. It illuminates the issues around who and what gets included in a canon and delves into how that reflects cultural values and agendas in a way that really resonated with me. Citron's discussion of canon formation and function was very eye-opening to read in a time when musical canons are being re-evaluated on the basis of race as well as gender. My one caveat is that Citron takes a very binary approach to gender, but that is likely due to her writing this in the early 1990s and to writing primarily about pre-war Europe.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gender and the Musical Canon (Paperback)
by Marcia J. Citron

Extensive endnotes & bibliography.