Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, 1150-1950

by Jane Bowers (Editor), Judith Tick (Editor)

"Do look after my music!" Irene Wienawska Polowski exclaimed before her death in 1932. And from the urgency of that sentiment the authors here have taken their cue to reveal and "look after" the previously neglected contributions of women throughout the history of Western art music.
 
The first work of its kind, Women Making Music presents biographies of outstanding performers and composers, as well as analyses of women musicians as a class, and provides examples of music from all periods including medieval chant, Renaissance song, Baroque opera, German lieder, and twentieth-century composition. Unlike most standard historical surveys, the book not only sheds light upon the musical achievements of women, it also illuminates the historical contexts that shaped and defined those achievements.
 

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

424 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1976

Reviews

[Jenny (Reading Envy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview of the topic, focusing in on specific musicians, composers, and performers in order to exhibit the general feelings of the time. The research was meticulous and I enjoyed the references to etiquette guides and general writings on women, because it gave a good context to the subject.

I read this along with Women in Music by Neuls-Bates, which had additional primary source material. They really supplement each other.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not enough here to hold my attention from beginning to end, but I am enjoying the later stuff. I also find it interesting on how opportunities for women were limited and the women who managed to side step these restrictions (usually a lot of help and support from kinfolk). Nobles in the earlier periods also aided many careers by adding women on the payroll as ladies in waiting as opposed to paid (gasp) musicians. Loved the segment on Clara Schummann but she's just a super fascinating person. I don't think there is anything on Nadia and Lili Boulanger in this book which I believe is a tremendous oversight. Not only did she compose, but she trained many of the great composers of the next generation. Maybe it is due to her life extending beyond the year the book claims to contain - but Lili died early in the 20th century. May add more to the review if I actually read more of the book - but as with a lot of non-fiction, historical works you can jump around with ease to the time periods of interest.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a little more like a compilation in that each chapter was written by a different author, but the book still held together as a coherent whole. It covers a lot of ground, and had a lot of illuminating information, most of which was unfamiliar to me. I particularly liked the chapters on specific women, all of whom were also composers. The ones on Clara Schumann and Ruth Crawford Seeger were especially interesting in the way they highlighted women who had been successful as composers while having rich and rewarding personal lives. Other highlights were the chapters on medieval and renaissance women because they are so invisible in most general histories of music.
The one thing that I took away from this book was that despite the severe limitations on their lives, obstacles due to sexism, and invisibility to history, women have always engaged in significant musical activity. The major issues regarding women in music are those of gaining respect and attention in a patriarchal society and access to professional status and opportunity.

[Ring Lo]

good