Women in Music
MUS/WST 209
Mary Ogletree
I.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will examine the contributions of women as composers, performers and conductors
of music from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century. Focus will remain mainly on the
roles of women in the sphere of classical music, although some jazz and popular music will be
included.
3 sh, 3 ch
II.
RATIONALALE:
Although most current music literature courses include only brief segments on women in the
musical arts, recent research suggests that women’s contributions are much more extensive than
has been recognized. Newly available scores, recordings, and anthologies document the
important roles of women in every musical arena. The course will identify important women in
music history, women composers and performers working today, and the stereotypes which have
caused much of their work to remain out of the public realm.
III.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Upon completion of the course, students should be able to:
A. Identify women who have been important in the development of musical art;
B. Identify the specific contributions of those women, in terms of compositions and/or
public performances;
C. Identify and research a significant topic relating to women in music;
D. Write a paper presenting their findings;
E. Describe, through examples, how musical institutions, the church, and educational
institutions have shaped public and professional perception of women musicians;
F. Understand current studies that address gender bias in the musical arts.
IV.
COURSE CONTENT:
A. The Middle Ages
1. The convent composers: the nuns of Las Huelgas, Hildegard of Bingen
2. Secular music: jougleresses and trobairitz
B. The Renaissance: Women in Music, 1450-1600
1. Singers, courtesans, accomplished amateurs
2. Italy: Florence, Venice, Ferrara;
Laura Peverara, Isabella Andreini, Madalena Casulana
3. The emergence of women composers: Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini
4. The scarcity of professional positions for women
5. Negative perceptions of women composers; disappearance of women from professional
arenas in music
C. The Classical Era: Women in Music of the 17th and 18th Centuries
1. France: amateur musicians and female patrons of music
2. Sopranos and altos
3. Instrumental performers; difficulties facing professional female performers
4. Women composers: Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre; Henriette de Beaumesnil;
Julie Candeille
D. The Romantic Era: Women’s Music in the 19th Century
1. Women In Europe: Louise Reichardt, Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn; Maria
Szymanowska, Louise Adolpha LeBeau; the Patti sisters, Wilma Norman Augusta
Holmes, Cecile Chaminade; Lili Boulanger, Alma Mahler-Werfel; Ethel Smyth
2. Women in America: Jenny Lind, Clara Baur, Augusta Browne; Clara Barnette Rogers;
Helen Hopekirk; Amy M.C. Beach
3. Women’s music schools and ensembles; the place of women in music of the era
E. The Twentieth Century:
1. Women as composers: Ruth Crawford Seeger, Sylvia Glickman, Ellen Taafe Zwilich
2. Women as conductors: Sarah Brown, Diane Wittry
3. Women as performers: orchestra, operatic, chamber ensemble, virtuosa
F. Research on Gender Equality in Music:
1. Union membership, conservatory admission, roles in major orchestras
2. Sexual harassment in the musical world; sex sells tickets
3. Reaching equality in the twenty-first century
V. ASSESSMENT:
Assessment of each student’s level of accomplishment with reference to the course objectives
will be based upon the following:
A. Regular writing assignments relevant to class discussions on the place of women in the
arts during each era studied; genres, styles and forms studied; the movements, themes
prevalent during each musical era; and the relationship of music to the other arts and the
humanities.
B. Research project and in-class presentation by each student on an aspect of women in
music not covered in class.
C. Examinations and quizzes.
VI.
INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES
Ammer, Christine. Unsung: A History of Women in American Music. Portland,
Oregon: Amadeus Press, 2001.
Ardoin, John. The Callas Legacy. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1995.
Blum, David. Nature’s Gift: Kyung-Wha Chung. The Strad: February 1989.
Bowers, Jane and Judith Tick. Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition 1150- 1950.
Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986.
Briscoe, James, ed. Historical Anthology of Music by Women. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1987.
Cohen, Aaron I., ed. International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. London:
and Music Company, 1988.
Books
Cone, John Frederick. Adelina Patti: Queen of Hearts. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus
1993.
Press,
Davidson, Jim. Lyrebird Rising. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1994.
Drake, James A. Rosa Ponselle: a Centenary Biography. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus
1997.
Press,
Drinker, Sophie. Music and Women. New York: The Feminist Press, 1995.
Gattey, Charles Neilson. Luisa Tetrazzini, the Florentine Nightingale. Portland, Oregon: 1995
Gartner, Heinz, translated by Reinhard G. Pauly. Constanze Mozart: After the
Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1991.
Requiem.
Green, Lucy. Music, Gender, Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
Greene, David M. Biographical Encyclopedia of Composers. New York: Doubleday
and Company, 1985.
Jezic, Diane. Women Composers: The Lost Tradition Found. New York: Feminist
1997.
Press, 1988.
Lebrecht, Norman. Who Killed Classical Music? Secaucus NJ: Birch Lane Press,
1997.
LePage, Jane Weiner. Women Composers, Conductors, and Musicians of the
Twentieth Century: Selected Biographies. Metuchen, NJ and London: The
Scarecrow Press, 1980.
Leppert, Richard and Susan McClary, eds. Music and Society: The Politics of
Composition, Performance and Reception. Cambridge: University Press, 1987.
Loesser, Arthur. Men, Women and Pianos: A Social History. New York: Victor
Gollancz, 1954.
Marshall, Kimberley. Rediscovering the Muses: Women’s Musical Traditions. Boston:
Northeastern University Press, 1993.
O’Brien, Karen. Hymn to Her: Women Musicians Talk. London: Virago, 1995.
Pendle, Karin. Women and Music: A History. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana
University Press, 1991.
Phelps, Melissa. Remembering Jacqueline Du Pre. The Strad: February 1988.
Potter, Tully. The Recordings of Jacqueline Du Pre. The Strad: February 1988.
Sadie, Julie Anne and Rhian Samuel, eds. New Grove Dictionary of Women
London: Macmillan Press, 1994.
Composers.
Shaffer, Karen. Perpetual Pioneer: Maud Powell. The Strad: November 1987.
Smart, Mary Ann, Ed. Siren Songs. Princeton: University Press, 2000.
Tillard, Francoise, translated by Camille Naish. Fanny Mendelssohn. Portland,
Amadeus Press, 1996.
Turnbull, Michael. Mary Garden. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1997.
Zaimont, Judith Lang, et al. The Musical Woman: An International Perspective,
vol. 1-3. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1991.
Approved by Music Department Nov. 2003
MO/bf
Oregon: