Why have there been no great women composers?

Question

I guess I could think of fifty or a hundred great composers, without too much difficulty. However they would be all male. Yet I would be hard put to think of a memorable tune written by a woman. Why is this?

There have been some great women writers and film-makers, and some very good female artists. I read somewhere that the reason there are no great women composers is that they don't have the same capacity for abstraction that men do. In other words, the more down-to-earth the art-form is, the better they are at it. Is it all down to how the brain is wired?

Hello Ms Mamianka, thank you for the ad hominem attack. I love you too. The problem is, I just couldn't think of a memorable tune written by a female, at least in the classical genre....I still can't.

My question was, "Why have there been no great women composers?" Not: "Why have there been no women composers?" Obviously, there have been women composers. The problem is that I can't think of a single tune, or memorable piece of music, written by a female. Surely with all the hype about equality in recent years, someone would have unearthed something? Why have there been no equivalents of the Brontes, George Eliot, Jane Austen, Sylvia Plath, etc?

BTW, I'm willing to concede that my lack of knowledge is the problem. But women (of high-class families at least) were actually encouraged to become proficient at music in the past. You would think that a tune at least would have slipped under the radar.

NB a similar problem exists in art. There were in the past very good women painters (e.g. Artemisia Gentilleschi, Berthe Morisot) but none that have been generally admitted to be in the first rank, even by critics. Outstanding work seems to be confined to literature (and allied arts).

Answer 1

There ONE reason that there were no "great" women composers: SEXISM!!!! Pieces written by women were just not performed until recently. Anna Maria (Nannerl) Mozart, for instance, was one who could compose pieces that would impress her famous brother...and Haydn was about the only other contemporary of his that could claim that. But, her works are lost...guess why?!

Nadia Boulanger was a great woman composer, but became noted as a teacher of other great composers rather than a composer in her own right.

Listen, there are many examples of this. Neither I nor any other female musician should have to convince anyone else of sexism...it's way too obvious.

Answer 2

check out Mamianda's answer--(the examples, not the "head under a rock" stuff). there are great women composers. Still, the discipline is strongly dominated by men. I don't know whether this is totally an instance of sexism or if it is a "Mars and Venus" phenomenon. Yes the sexism exists, but I've often wondered if women tend to prefer other forms of musical expression over composition. Might make a nice research project for some eager grad student.

One other thought: A lot of great composers are still alive. Many work in popular music and write their own material. Carol King, Nancy Griffith are a couple that come to mind. MeShelle N'Dgeocello (forgive my bad spelling) is a genius in my book. You should also check out the artists who might not sit well in your ears at first hearing. Are they bad, or do they have a musical vision that the world isn't ready for?

Be slow to judge, my sister!

Answer 3

You sound as if you believe that women are somehow less capable of composing at the level of the established "great" composers. I think Mamianka has cited enough names in the mainstream of composing to dispel that notion. Other answers here I do believe have hit it right on the head.

I do take issue with Mamianka's assertion that Clara Wieck wrote much of Robert Schumann's output. I would ask her to please cite references. Wieck was not only an accomplished pianist, one of the greatest of her time, in fact, but a composer in her own right as well. Schumann's music was quite idiosyncratic. Wieck's bears little stylistic resemblance to it. She never did program her own works, however. Bowing to the spirit (or lack thereof) of the time, she knew it would not be acceptable to do so. A shame, but a fact. Instead, she continued to champion Robert's music after his death. That is the legacy she chose, out of necessity.

Back to the subject: If you were familiar with Chaminade's works, or Tower's, or Larson's, or Wieck's, etc. then you would have some familiar tunes to hum. So it's your lack of knowledge, and not their lack of output, that is at fault here.

Answer 4

Umm, There are great women composers. One that I can name off hand is Cecile Chaminade. She composed a flute concertino called "Concertino". It is one of the pieces used at the Paris Conservatory of Music for graduates. There are many others. If you do a search on Female Composers, you will get a list of various subjects under jazz and music scores as well.

Answer 5

I just recently read this paragraph in my Music History course:

"Women in Music:

The absence of women in the history of music is conspicuous and disturbing. Other than Hildegard of Bingen, a significant medieval composer, no female musicians have received historical recognition, let alone risen to the level of mastery of, for example, Bach or Haydn. Why is that?

The simple truth is that women were not allowed equal access to any of the musical opportunities that men enjoyed. Women were not even allowed to sing the female roles in opera until the 18th century! If a woman did show skill and ability at an early age, several forces would combine to quell her ambition. First, the culture of the times dictated that the role of women was to stay home and raise children. Second, only women of aristocratic households had access to musical education. Finally, even if a woman did receive some education in composition, patrons, publishers, and concert promoters were very reluctant to hire her or publish her music.

Therefore, although quite a few were able to become prominent musicians, it was rare (until well into the 20th century) for a woman to achieve prominence as a composer. The exceptions to this rule were usually women with strong character who came from aristocratic families.

For example, Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, a French Baroque composer, wrote excellent suites for the harpsichord. Two sisters of famous composers, Marianne Mozart and Fanny Mendelssohn, had the ability to become significant composers, but gave up their careers to raise families. (Felix Mendelssohn published some of Fanny' s music under his own name). Perhaps the most important woman in Romantic music is Clara Schumann, the wife of Robert Schumann and a lifelong friend of Johannes Brahms. She was a brilliant composer in her own right, and toured Europe as a concert pianist to high acclaim.
In the 20th century, the trend slowly began to change. Nadia Boulanger taught composition to some of the century' s greatest composers, including Germaine Tailleferre, a woman who was a member of the French school known as Les Six. Currently, many women are prominent composers, including Thea Musgrave, Libby Larsen, and Joan Tower."

Answer 6

There are many fine women composers. Get your head out from under that rock, and do some research. We can start with Hildegard of Bingen who wrote melismatic chant, right through every compositional period since. Women often had to disguise their composition under a man's name - much of Schumann's music was in fact written by his wife Clara Weick, a piano virtuoso in her own right. Anna Magdalena Bach was entrusted with all the transcription of Bach's works. Cecile Chaminade, Nadia Boulanger, and several other women were influential composers AND teachers of composition. Joan Tower is a giant today, as is Katherine Hoover, Jennifer Higdon, Libby Larsen, and many, many others.

What if your question was "why are there no Jews?" or "why are there no Latino . . " or fill in with any groups you wish. As long as old white men write history, other people get glossed over, or left out completely. *Anonymous was a Woman* was a book title several years back.

This rant comes to you courtesy of an old white lady - with a VERY snooty and traditional conservatory education. If *I* found all his out - and more - in MY generation - then shame on you for not doing YOUR OWN research - or are you a bigot who just threw this question out there to further cast insults and doubt? It sure sound it, from the aspersion you cast about how women's brains are WIRED????? Actually, it is MEN who have less ability to do abstract thinking, or to multi-task. And much of those abilities are due to generations of TRAINING, not genetic predispositions. What CENTURY were you born in - our are you part of some repressive group yourself???

Answer 7

You could try Judith Weir for a start -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Weir

http://www.chesternovello.com/Default.aspx?TabId=2431&State_2905=2&composerId_2905=1689

And then expend your knowledge (as we all could!) here -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_composers

and have a think about this too -

http://src.truman.edu/browse/display.asp?abs_id=335&year=2004

It's called sexism.

Happy listening,
Joan.

Answer 8

Oh, there have been. And you do know their tunes. It's just that we can't remember their names just now.

Answer 9

great women is an oxymoron