Women Composers Essay

Female composers, all through countries, have committed their selves to all types of music. From song-writing to performing, the diversity in genre of music where women have contributed is enormous. Women, in different cultures, couldn’t compose music due to motherly duties, restriction for women, village women commitments and spiritual beliefs. “In the middle ages, St. Paul took the bible scripture, Timothy (2:11-12), which states “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence;” meaning to not let women compose music, especially religious music.” (Green 17) Reading Black Women Composers: a Genesis by Mildred Denby Green helped keep diversity in the research of women composers. There were also women who came from families that were already professional composers in the nineteenth century, such as fathers, brothers and husbands. (Green 22) Opera is one of the most competitive and public of all musical genres but that didn’t stop Isabella de Charriere (1740-1805). Charriere wrote nine operas between 1784 and 1793. (Letzter, Adelson 2) Unfortunately, none of her operas were performed. In the first fifth years of opera in France (1670-1720), only seven works by three women are known. That number increased as time went on. As a total, there are hundreds of thousands of women composers from far and near. In recent time, women have slowly but surely have more support with composing music. Recognition is what women strived to gain while composing and possibly performing. Throughout centuries, women have played a tremendous role in music composing, despite their resistance to the public.

There were women in Brazil, Sweden, France, Ge...

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...field women had that power is in domestic arts. Women admire sharing their talents with an audience in different ways, whether it is theater, performing a song, ballet dancing, conducting an orchestra or being on television. Eileen Marie Moore shows discipline, excellence and success in her all-age field today. Amy Beach was the first woman to compose a symphony and Clara Schumann was the first woman be publicly accepted as a woman musician. These women opened doors for aspiring and existing women composers and performers to gain recognition, regardless of the culture. A tribute for Amy Beach, Michael Anthony quoted “Being a woman hadn’t held her back as a musician.” The confidence these women portrayed for music was tremendous. Determined to succeed in male dominance category is a challenge, but having the resilience and purpose to keep going, is what counts.