Why Are There No Women In Music History?
Louis Hurley email: louis.hurley@gmail.com
This paper seeks to answer the age-old question, why are there no women in music history? While few are counted among the thousands of men listed in our history books today, there may be a few reasons to suggest this. While many suggest that there are biological differences between males and females that allow males to excel in music, none of this research can propose any solid conclusions. Instead, if we look at the history of female oppression in relation to music, it isn’t hard to see why women have only started making great inroads in recent years.
Introduction
If we take a look at the history of Western Art music, it doesn’t take long to realise the chasm between the …show more content…
He theorised that music was a very abstract art, and that music is a language that expresses emotion constantly. Copland said that composers don’t consciously know what expressions they are conveying in their works until played or sung back to themselves, this subconscious expression being the abstract aspect of composition. When considering female composers Copland said:
“There have been great women singers, pianists, violinists, who interpret marvelously well, but for some reason or other, no outstanding composers. People have made an analogy between the fact that there have been no great women mathematicians and no great women composers. Perhaps it's the inability to handle abstract material that defeats them.”
This opinion on female composers is not unique to the mind of Aaron Copland. It has been posed for years but has been unsuccessfully investigated many times. After all, if women are unable to handle abstract material then why are there so many successful women in the fields of both mathematics and music in today’s society when females receive equal educational opportunities as
Louis Hurley email: louis.hurley@gmail.com
This paper seeks to answer the age-old question, why are there no women in music history? While few are counted among the thousands of men listed in our history books today, there may be a few reasons to suggest this. While many suggest that there are biological differences between males and females that allow males to excel in music, none of this research can propose any solid conclusions. Instead, if we look at the history of female oppression in relation to music, it isn’t hard to see why women have only started making great inroads in recent years.
Introduction
If we take a look at the history of Western Art music, it doesn’t take long to realise the chasm between the …show more content…
He theorised that music was a very abstract art, and that music is a language that expresses emotion constantly. Copland said that composers don’t consciously know what expressions they are conveying in their works until played or sung back to themselves, this subconscious expression being the abstract aspect of composition. When considering female composers Copland said:
“There have been great women singers, pianists, violinists, who interpret marvelously well, but for some reason or other, no outstanding composers. People have made an analogy between the fact that there have been no great women mathematicians and no great women composers. Perhaps it's the inability to handle abstract material that defeats them.”
This opinion on female composers is not unique to the mind of Aaron Copland. It has been posed for years but has been unsuccessfully investigated many times. After all, if women are unable to handle abstract material then why are there so many successful women in the fields of both mathematics and music in today’s society when females receive equal educational opportunities as