New Historical Anthology of Music by Women

American Music Teacher, Feb-March, 2005 by Connie Arrau Sturm

New Historical Anthology of Music by Women, edited by James R. Briscoe. Indiana University Press (601 N. Morton St., Bloomington, IN 47404), 2004. 528 pp. $39. 95.

The New Historical Anthology of Music by Women is a collection of works by forty-four female composers from around 600 B.C.E. to the present day. This collection includes compositions representing a wide variety of genres, forms and instrumentation and is accompanied by a CD recording, which was not provided with my review copy. Biographical information and analysis and critical evaluation of works are provided for each composer. Although this commentary is authoritative and scholarly, it is addressed to music students, teachers and performers who may know little if anything about these composers and their works.

This anthology contains an excellent selection of repertoire, ranging from better-known and more celebrated works by women composers (such as movements from Clara Wieck Schumann's Trio in G Minor for Piano, Violin and Cello and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Pulitzer Prize-winning Symphony No. 1) to more obscure works by largely unknown composers. It spotlights repertoire that certainly deserves more recognition. One of my favorite such pieces in this anthology is the lovely Nocturne in B-flat for piano by Maria Agata Szymanowska (1789-1831). Its singing melodies, rocking accompaniments and romantic harmonies advance the composition of nocturnes from Field to Chopin. Not only is this an excellent performance piece for an intermediate or more advanced pianist, but it and others in this collection help provide the music history student with a more complete picture of the development of musical style.

The one feature I wish had been included in this book is a short overview of women composers in general and the many challenges they faced due to their gender. For example, women have historically been encouraged as performers of only certain types of instruments, such as piano and voice. Does this collection's large number of works featuring voice and/or keyboard (for example, almost all the works from Marianna yon Martines through Alma Mahler) in part reflect these composers' greater familiarity with these instruments? Regardless of the extent to which gender bias influenced individual composers, there is no question that female composers as a group historically have been denied the same training and opportunities open to male composers. Certainly, the trailblazers featured in this anthology (and other female composers as well) surmounted a variety of obstacles, and this should be recognized.

This anthology not only introduces us to repertoire that deserves to be better known, but also helps document the musical activities and accomplishments of a group of people whose contributions to the field have been largely ignored.

Connie Arrau Sturm, NCTM, Morgantown, West Virginia.