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Type of Submission
Podium Presentation
Keywords
Women, Composers, Compositions, Music, Suppression, Performers, Inferiority, Philosophy, Medieval, Baroque
Proposal
The first woman to regard herself as a composer and have her music published dedicated her first publication with this quote: “to expose to the world, insofar as it is given me to do so in the profession of music, the vain error of men who esteem themselves such masters of high intellectual gifts that they think women cannot share them too.” The voices of female composers and performers have been especially suppressed in the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras merely because of their gender. It is obvious, from the quote above, that early women composers realized their state of unjust inferiority. Some women composers embraced this subordination while others sought to overcome it. The influence of ancient Greek philosophy on the conventions of music and gender roles from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras will be examined. A sample of women composers from each era: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque, will be reviewed in order to expose the manifestation of ancient Greek influence on their musical cultures. Though the ancient Greeks have made many good contributions to philosophy and knowledge, their influence in gender roles and dynamics has hindered numerous possibilities and opportunities for women to flourish in and contribute to musical endeavors.
Creative Commons License
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“The Vain Error of Men”: Examining the Suppression of Early Woman Composers
The first woman to regard herself as a composer and have her music published dedicated her first publication with this quote: “to expose to the world, insofar as it is given me to do so in the profession of music, the vain error of men who esteem themselves such masters of high intellectual gifts that they think women cannot share them too.” The voices of female composers and performers have been especially suppressed in the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras merely because of their gender. It is obvious, from the quote above, that early women composers realized their state of unjust inferiority. Some women composers embraced this subordination while others sought to overcome it. The influence of ancient Greek philosophy on the conventions of music and gender roles from the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque eras will be examined. A sample of women composers from each era: Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque, will be reviewed in order to expose the manifestation of ancient Greek influence on their musical cultures. Though the ancient Greeks have made many good contributions to philosophy and knowledge, their influence in gender roles and dynamics has hindered numerous possibilities and opportunities for women to flourish in and contribute to musical endeavors.
