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Women in Music: An Alternate Survey
Russell E. Murray, Jr.
Associate Professor of Music
Room 322
Amy E. du Pont Music Building
302-831-6287
Home page
Teaching Assistant: Kimberly Doucette
Room 130
Amy E. du Pont Music Building
302-831-0391
Course
Description
Requirements
and Grading
Course
Schedule
Texts
Links
Image: Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) and her
amanuensis
from the Riesenkodex (late 12th century)
Course Description:
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This course will explore the music of women in the Western art tradition. In doing so, it will take a wide view of women's contribution to musical history: as composers, poets, performers, patrons, and as the subject of musical expression. The goal of this will be to come to an understanding of the role of women in musical culture, as well as to explore those areas in which women have created a distinct culture outside of the mainstream.
A secondary goal will be to explore the historiography of women in music. The readings and discussions will allow the student to see where that history parallels that of the dominant culture of male musicians and where, how, and why it departs. Specific readings will explore the reasons for these dynamics from the point of view of history, sociology, psychology, and feminist theory. As part of this, the course will focus on the concept of the musical canon that is used in the study of music, looking at the forces that went into the formation of that canon as well as the values that guide it and are embodied in it.
Finally, the course will use the study of women in music as a point
of reference for the study of the Western art tradition. In confronting
the style or practice of a woman musician, it must be placed in counterpoint
with prevailing trends and practices. In this way, the course will
reinforce the student’s knowledge of the general trends in Western music,
all the while building a history that is richer and more inclusive.
Course Requirements and Grading
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| Mid-Term Exam: | 30% |
| Final Exam: | 30% |
| Reading Responses: | 10% |
| Class Participation: | 10% |
| Webpage: | 20% |
This course is centered around the traditional triad of readings, lectures, and discussions. The majority of your final grade will be based on preparation and class participation (10%) and examinations (Mid-Term and Final=60%). As part of your class participation, you will be required to discuss specific readings (see syllabus for details). To help you, I have provided a list of questions to think about as you read. Your responses to these (submitted electroncially before class) will be worth 10% of your total grade. In addition to your reading, you will be responsible for listening examples (which you will identify and discuss for your exams). Electronic listening guides for some, if not all, will be available in the Music Resource Center. Finally, you will gather materials for a web-page for a composer or performer of your choice. (20%). You will choose in consultation with the instructor, and specific guidelines and a template will be provided.
Highlighted readings are available on line using an Acrobat reader. If you do not have one, just click on the icon below to add the necessary plug-in. If you already have Acrobat, simply click on the highlighted reading.
Course Schedule
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| 2/11: Class Introduction |
No readings
| 2/13: Women and Music History I: The Middle Ages and the Renaissance |
Readings: P: 3-18 (Questions)
Listening: Hildegard von Bingen, O virga ac diadema (CD1)
Maddalena Casaluna, Morir non puo il mio cuore (CD1)
| 2/18: Women and Music History II: The 17th and 18th Centuries |
Readings: B&T: 3-14
Listening: Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, Suite in D (CD2)
Marianne von Martinez, Sonata (CD2)
| 2/20: Women and Music History III: The 19th and 20th Centuries |
No Readings
Listening: Clara Schumann, Trio, op. 17, 1st mvt. (CD2)
Ellen Taafe Zwillich, Symphony #1, 1st mvt. (CD3)
| 2/25: Women and the Canon |
Readings: C: 1-43 (Questions)
| 2/27: Women as Subjects and as Objects: Medieval Secular Music |
Readings: P: 21-40, Monter (Questions) B&T: 39-61
Listening: Comtessa de Dia, A chantar (CD1)
Kassia, "The Fallen Woman" (CD1)
| 3/4: Women and Faith Communities |
Readings: P: 40-53; B&T: 15-38
Listening: Hildegard von Bingen, O virga ac diadema (CD1)
Anonymous, Mater patris et filia from the Las Huelgas Codex (CD1)
| 3/6: Women's Roles I: Theories of Creativity |
Readings: C: 44-79 (Questions)
| 3/11: Women and The Renaissance |
Readings: P: 57-77; Kelly-Gadol (Questions)
Listening: Gilles Binchois, Dueil angoisseux (CD1)
Antoine Busnois, A que ville (CD1)
Anne Boleyn (?), O death, rock me asleepe (CD1)
| 3/13: Women's Roles II: The "Muse" of Patronage |
Readings: P: 481-494; B&T: 62-89; Prizer
Listening: Marco Cara, Bona dies, bona sera (CD1)
| 3/18: The Madrigal |
Readings: B&T: 77-91, Macy (Questions)
Listening: Jacob Arcacelt, Il bianco e dolce cigno (CD1)
Maddalena Casaluna, Morir non puo il mio cuore (CD1)
| 3/20: Women's Roles III: The Question of Professionalism |
Readings: C: 80-119 (Questions)
Listening: Luca Marenzio, Cantate ninfe (CD1)
| 3/25: Women in a "Man's World" |
Readings: P: 359-367; B&T: 349-369
Guests:
Jennifer Barker, Composer, Assistant Professor of Music
Cynthia Carr, Hornist, Associate Professor of Music
| 3/27: Mid-Term Exam |
| 4/8: Ravishing Voices: Women and Secular Music in the Baroque |
Readings: P: 97-107; B&T: 168-190 (Questions)
Listening: Barbara Strozzi, Canto di bella bocca (CD1)
| 4/10: Disembodied Voices: Women and Sacred Music in the Baroque |
Readings: B&T: 116-167, Kendrick
Listening: Francesca Caccini, Maria dolce Maria (CD1)
Isabella Leonarda, Beatus vir, op. 19, no. 4 (CD1)
Lucrezia Vizzana, Protector Noster (CD1)
| 4/15: Instrumental Music and Opera in the Baroque |
Readings: P: 115-123; B&T: 191-223
Listening: Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre, Suite in D (CD2)
Isabella Leonarda, Sonata Terza, Op. 16 (CD1)
Francesca Caccini, Aria of the Shepherd (CD2)
| 4/17: Women in the Classical Era |
Readings: P: 123-137; B&T: 224-248
Listening: Marianne von Martinez, Sonata (CD2)
Maria Theresia von Paradis, Morgenlied eines armen Mannes (CD2)
| 4/22: Women and the Lied: The Romantic Era |
Readings: P: 147-159, Readings: B&T: 249-281 Citron, “Lieder”
Listening: Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Schwanenlied (CD2)
Hensel, songs published under Felix's name (CD2):
"Italien"
"Die Nonne"
Josephine Lang, Früzeitiger Frühling (CD2)
Clara Schumann, Songs from the Rückert Lieder, Op. 12 (CD2):
"Er ist gekommen"
"Liebst du um Schönheit"
"Warum willst"
| 4/24: Women in the Romantic Era: Instrumental Music |
Readings: P: 159-172, Kalberg (Questions)
Listening: Clara Schumann, Trio, op. 17, 1st mvt. (CD2)
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Trio in D minor, op. 11, 2nd. mvt. (CD2)
| 4/29: Amy Beach and the American Experience |
Readings: P: 193-222; B&T: 325-348, Block (Questions)
Listening: Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, A Hermit Thrush at Morn (CD2)
Amy Marcy Cheney Beach, Symphony #1 ("Gaelic"), 1st mvt. (CD3)
| 5/1: Case Study: The Representation of Women in Opera |
Readings: Clément, 9-12; Locke, 59-78 (Questions)
Summaries of Opera Plots
| 5/6: The Turn of the Twentieth Century |
Readings: P: 175-191
Listing: Lili Boulanger, Demain fera un an (CD3)
Lili Boulanger, Je garde une médaille d’elle (CD3)
Alma Mahler, Der Erkennende (CD3)
Cécile Chaminade, Sonata in C minor, 1st mvt. (CD3)
| 5/8: New Directions |
Readings: P: 314-323
Listening: Rebecca Clarke, Piano Trio, 1st mvt. (CD3)
Ruth Crawford Seeger, Rat Riddles (CD3)
| 5/13: "Women's Music": Writing Like the Boys, or a In a Different Voice? |
Readings: P 323-359
Listening: Ethel Smyth, The Wreckers (CD3)
Ellen Taafe Zwillich, Symphony #1, 1st mvt. (CD3)
Libby Larsen: Symphony: Symphony, Water Music, 1st mvt. (CD3)
Pauline Oliveros, Zina’s Circle (CD3)
| 5/15: African-American Women |
Readings: Walker-Hill, 16-43;
| 5/20: Case Study: Ruth Crawford Seeger: The Musical Language of Gender |
Reading: Smith (Questions) Tick, pp. 201-222
Texts
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| Primary Texts: |
Citron, Marcia J. Gender and the Musical Canon. Cambridge: Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2000. (C)
Bowers, Jane and Judith Tick, ed. Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, 1150-1950. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1987. (B&T)
Murray, Russell and Kristine Forney: The Norton Enjoyment of Music WebBOOK. New York: W.W. Norton, 1999.
Murray, Russell. Women in Sound: Electronic Listening Guides to Selected Pieces by Women Composers. Available in Music Resource Center.
| Reserve Readings: |
______. Amy Beach, Passionate Victorian: an American Composer's Life and Work (New York, 1998)
Citron, Marcia. "The Lieder of Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel,"Musical Quarterly 69 (1983): 570-594.
Clément, Catherine. Opera, or the Undoing of Women. Translated by Betsy Wing. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1988, 9-12.
Cowen, G. ‘Mrs H.H.A. Beach, the Celebrated Composer’, Musical Courier (8 June 1910).
Hallmark, Rufus. "The Rückert Lieder of Robert and Clara Schumann." 19th Century Music 14 (1990): 3-30.
Kalberg, Jeffrey. "The Harmony of the Tea Table:
Gender and Ideology in the Piano Nocturne." Representations 39 (1992):
102-133.
Available on line via JSTOR (http://www2.lib.udel.edu/database/jstor.html)
--Enter and go to "Browse The Journals" to find
the journal Representations, then go to volume 39 to get text.
Kelly-Gadol, Joan. "Did Women have a Renaissance?" in Becoming Visible: Women in European History, ed. Renate Bridenthal and Claudia Koonz. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 137-164.
Kendrick, Robert. "The Traditions of Milanese Convent Music and the Sacred Dialogues of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani," The Crannied Wall: Women, Religion and the Arts in Early Modern Europe, ed. Craig Monson. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1992, 211-233.
Locke, Ralph P. "What Are These Women Doing in Opera?" in En Travesti: Women, Gender Subversion, and Opera, ed. Corinne E. Blackmer and Patricia Juliana Smith. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994, 59-78.
Macdonald, Claudia. "Critical perception and the woman composer: the early reception of piano concertos by Clara Wieck Schumann and Amy Beach." Current Musicology 55 (1993): 24-56.
Maddocks, Fiona. Hildegard of Bingen : The Woman of Her Age (New York: Doubleday, 2001)
Macy, Laura W. "Speaking of Sex: Metaphor and Performance in the Italian Madrigal." Journal of Musicology 14, no. 1 (Winter 1996): 1-34
Monter, E. William, "The Pedestal and the Stake: Courtly Love and Witchcraft," in Becoming Visible: Women in European History, ed. Renate Bridenthal and Claudia Koonz. Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1977, 118-136.
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ONLINE EDITION.
Newman, Barbara: ‘Hildegard and her Hagiographers: the Remaking of Female Sainthood,’Gendered Voices: Medieval Saints and their Interpreters, ed. C.M. Mooney (Philadelphia, 1999), 16–34.
The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers. edited by Julie Anne Sadie & Rhian Samuel. New York: W.W. Norton. 1994.
Prizer, William. "Renaissance Women as Patrons of Music: The North Italian Courts," Rediscovering the Muses: Women’s Musical Traditions, ed. Kimberly Marshall. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1993.
Smith, Catherine Parsons. "‘A Distinguishing Virility’: Feminism and Modernism in American Art Music," in Cecilia Reclaimed, Feminist Perspectives on Gender and Music, ed. Susan C. Cook and Judy S. Tsou. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1994, 90-106.
Tick, Judith. Ruth Crawford Seeger, a Composer’s Search for American Music (New York, 1997)
Walker-Hill, Helen. From Spirituals to Symphonies:African-American Women Composers and Their Music. Westport, Connecticut and London: Greenwood Press, 2002, 16-43.
Links:
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| Links to Women in Music Sites: |
- International Alliance for Women in Music: An essential starting point
- Historical Women Composers Links to Composer Pages: From the IAWM site
- Early Women Composers Page : Links to sites dealing with Early Music, both Western and Non Western
- Hildegard of Bingen: An excellent link for this fascinating woman
| Research Links (only available from UD network) |
Guides:
- University of Delaware Library Networked Databases
- Guide to Women's Studies Resources
- Guide to Music Resources
- Delcat (Telnet and Web interfaces for the Morris Library Catalogue)
- RILM (Répertoire International de Littérature Musicale)
- IIMP (International Index to Music Periodicals)
- Women's Resources International (Interdisciplinary database)