Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Sibelius, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich: some of the greatest composers in history, with vastly different histories, styles, and oeuvres. However, they share one significant commonality: they, like almost all other famous composers throughout Western music, are men.
Women have long been absent from many great cultural canons, with classical music being one of the most notable. With limited access to music education, performance or publishing opportunities, few women have been able to achieve great prominence in the world of Western music--from the Renaissance even up to the present day.
The purpose of this blog--and the Signature project with which it is connected--is to explore the social and cultural barriers that have impeded women's progress in classical music, and to shed new light on female composers and performers who, with greater recognition, could have been considered on a par with their male contemporaries. In pursuing this project, I hope to use music as a means of charting the evolving position of women in Western society.
As a violinist, I plan to incorporate my own performance into this undertaking, by curating a recital of works written by and for significant figures in the history of musical women. As I research and write about different eras, composers, and the ideas that shaped them, I will attempt to piece together a musical timeline of women's roles in the classical profession.
"My imagination can picture no fairer happiness than to continue living for art." - Clara Schumann
Women have long been absent from many great cultural canons, with classical music being one of the most notable. With limited access to music education, performance or publishing opportunities, few women have been able to achieve great prominence in the world of Western music--from the Renaissance even up to the present day.
The purpose of this blog--and the Signature project with which it is connected--is to explore the social and cultural barriers that have impeded women's progress in classical music, and to shed new light on female composers and performers who, with greater recognition, could have been considered on a par with their male contemporaries. In pursuing this project, I hope to use music as a means of charting the evolving position of women in Western society.
As a violinist, I plan to incorporate my own performance into this undertaking, by curating a recital of works written by and for significant figures in the history of musical women. As I research and write about different eras, composers, and the ideas that shaped them, I will attempt to piece together a musical timeline of women's roles in the classical profession.
"My imagination can picture no fairer happiness than to continue living for art." - Clara Schumann