Abstract: Throughout history, the patriarchy has excluded women from active participation in classical music, especially in the disciplines of composition and conducting. A byproduct of patriarchy is the belief that women simply lack creative genius. Such colossally talented female composers as Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn were reduced to mere parenthetic remarks and footnotes in history, only mentioned when discussing male musicians. Women were denied audition opportunities for many symphony orchestras until the late 20th century, and only with the introduction of blind auditions did the number of female orchestral musicians increase. Recently, this generational exclusion of women has been brought to the forefront thanks to strong and effective feminist voices as well as more women speaking out and going on record about their own experiences. However, women in classical music continue to face disadvantages due to historical injustices and vestiges of anachronistic stereotypes, leading to lost opportunities for both female musicians and the entire industry. In order to eradicate sexism in classical music, it must become more widely exposed and discussed among both men and women within the industry itself. This analysis aims to explore the gender disparity in classical music as well as to recommend a possible redressing.

Keywords: classical music, blind auditions, orchestral position, composition, conducting, Rebecca Clarke, Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn, Marin Alsop, Hildegard von Bingen, gender roles, stereotypes, sexism, femininity, equal opportunity, discrimination, equality, societal expectations, feminism, prejudice, patriarchy, exclusion

“Bruckner or Stravinsky will not do [for women conductors], but Debussy is okay. This is purely an issue of biology.” – Jorma Panula

Bach, Beethoven, Brahms: the 3 Bs of classical music, all male, are household names to every music enthusiast. A brief inspection of a concert programme will yield more often-performed composers – Chopin the “poet of the piano”, Mozart the world-renowned prodigy, the Italian opera masters of Verdi and Puccini. However, rarely does one see works by Barbara Strozzi, Amy Beach, Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth, and other female composers in a typical concert. The discipline of composition, as is evident from a simple perusal of a music history textbook, has historically been almost entirely male-dominated. Shackled by patriarchy and conventional gender roles, many female composers have been discouraged in their lifetimes and posthumously overlooked. There is a similar gender imbalance in the other musical disciplines such as conducting and orchestral playing. The intention of this article is to expose the lack of female visibility in various musical disciplines and how it may be redressed.

The first illustration is Rebecca Clarke. Her Sonata for Viola and Piano is an exceptionally compelling chamber work and a staple of the viola repertoire. As a professional violist, Clarke’s sonata naturally showcases the viola’s sublime timbre as well as its technical and expressive capacity. Yet, many music critics, who are traditionally male, could not fathom a woman birthing something so phenomenal, and instead, they treated the sonata’s provenance with skepticism. Furthering the injustice, when Clarke’s sonata tied for first place in a composition competition sponsored by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge[1], many speculated that “Rebecca Clarke” was a pseudonym for Ernest Bloch, a male composer.

Clarke was cognizant of such skepticism but dismissed the allegation that Ernest Bloch was the authentic composer. In an interview by radio journalist Robert Sherman, she commented that “I thought to myself what a funny idea that when [Bloch] writes his very much lesser works that he should take a pseudonym of a girl, that anyone should consider this possible.” Through comparing Clarke and Bloch, however, we can clearly see the impact of gender and gendered attitudes on two equally remarkable musicians. Bloch enjoyed a long and eminent musical career, establishing himself in higher academia at universities and conservatories while continuing to compose[2]. Clarke, however, eventually gave in to gender conformity, having her musical career stunted by her father’s disapprobation. She eventually opted for domestic service and matrimony, succumbing to domesticity over composition. Her compositional output waned significantly due to her gender and the domestic role society imposed upon her.

Rebecca Clarke’s struggle is far from an aberration among female musicians throughout recorded history. Female instrumentalists were limited to “feminine” instruments such as the harpsichord and lute, and the remnants of these stereotypes can still be seen today in the scarcity of female brass players and bassists. Composition, especially, was off-limits. One may argue that there is not a complete absence of historical female composers: for instance, Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179), a European woman and a prominent ecclesiastical leader, is widely regarded as a musical pioneer[3]. She set her poems to music in a collection of 77 plainchant songs called Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum. Although monophonic, her work comprises soaring melodies and daring leaps atypical of the time.

However, Hildegard was certainly an exception on account of her revered status in the Catholic Church. Born to a noble family, she already had an advantage in ascribed status over other coeval women. Hildegard was noteworthy in that she experienced visions that set her apart from other women (and men) of the time. She was one of the most distinguished people of the time, and it is frankly astounding that she was a woman; she counselled Frederick Barbarossa, leading the Abbey at Disibodenberg, and preached to the public. To many, Hildegard transcended her gender. Her influence on music, as well, was greatly due to her clout in politics and religion. Most female composers contemporary to and after her were not so fortunate.

Although aristocratic women – and indeed, most of their male counterparts – were expected to be musically educated, societal expectations still excluded them from potential careers in composition. While education provided them with the skills of improvisation and embellishment[4], it did not lead them to viable musical careers. Musical society expected women to simply perform (as performance was considered a shallower art form than composition) and attend to domestic duties, as most did not even entertain the notion of a woman possessing creative genius. These conditions fiercely discouraged any aspiring female composers from pursuing music, and women continue to experience the consequences of such beliefs.

These deep-seated beliefs kept composition a male-only art for centuries, the exclusion of women from the field fuelling the idea that women were ‘talentless’. Female composers whose memories survived were acknowledged only in context of their male counterparts, although many were altogether erased from history. The very notion that a woman could compose seemed implausible. Societal pressures contributed to the paucity: Clara Schumann (1819-1896), a brilliant concert pianist and composer, once wrote, "…a woman must not desire to compose - there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?" Even her own husband, the renowned Robert Schumann, bemoaned the deprivation of such compositional genius from the world.

Among the countless female composers denied careers in the male-dominated discipline is Fanny Mendelssohn (1805-1847). To most, her last name solely denotes her brother Felix Mendelssohn, one of the most distinguished composers of the Romantic Era. This should not be so; Felix was brilliant and certainly worthy of the acclaim, but Fanny shared his genius while remaining largely uncelebrated. The music teachers they shared recognized both as incredibly talented, and Felix even described Fanny as the superior pianist[5]. They also acted as each other’s primary advisors in composition: Fanny once claimed that she “[has] always been his only musical adviser, and he never writes down a thought before submitting it to [her] judgment". However, while Felix embarked on a musical journey across Europe, Fanny was hobbled by her gender and a restrictive family[6]; ergo, she stayed home and got married. Even Felix, who recognized Fanny’s compositional genius, wrote to his sister that "you must…prepare [for] the only calling of a young woman…the state of a housewife". This shows that sexism was so pervasive at the time that it could blind everyone, regardless of their brilliance.

Yet, domesticity did not quench Fanny’s love for music or dampen her ambition – in fact, her husband, the artist Wilhelm Hensel, encouraged her when Felix and the rest of her family did not. She continued to compose, even establishing a musical salon in the Mendelssohn family home, although most of her output remained unknown for a good 150 years after her death. Musicologists attributed her compositions, even when rediscovered, to Felix since they shared a similar style. For example, Fanny’s Easter Sonata for piano was credited to her brother when recorded simply due to the piece’s perceived masculinity despite numerous corrections on the manuscript in her handwriting. This was only further confused by the fact that Felix occasionally claimed some of Fanny’s works as his own.

It is an outrage – especially to the modern person – that such geniuses as Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn did not receive their due recognition, but the tragedy extends further. Although we mourn their lost potential, they are amongst the most celebrated of historical female composers. Fanny was reduced to merely “Felix Mendelssohn’s sister”, and her works are rarely performed. She was also one of the first published female composers, yet even her brilliance was obscured – so what must become of the other women? It is clear why Clara Schumann thought women were not meant to compose; many unexceptional works written by male composers are still more often programmed than outstanding female-authored ones. This inequality and erasure of female talent remains present throughout the industry today.

Although composition and conducting are notably gender-exclusive, all female musicians throughout history have suffered at the hands of the patriarchy. When asked where the women were, the sentiment of past male performers and audience members alike would have been, ‘in the audience, where they belong.’ For example, women have historically been blocked from participation in singing even though there is currently a high proportion of female vocalists. The parts we would normally assign to women today were taken by men with similar vocal ranges[7]. Furthermore, preeminent orchestras like the Vienna Philharmonic have systemically excluded women for centuries, only allowing women to audition beginning in the late 20th century. Even then, very few women succeeded, and those who did were treated with condescension.

Many orchestras have since implemented blind auditions to alleviate the prejudice of earlier hiring practices. In this procedure, a screen such as a curtain or divider visually separates the auditionees from the judges, allow musicians to be judged without bias (gender or otherwise). In a study by Claudia Goldin and Cecilia Rouse titled “Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of “Blind” Auditions on Female Musicians”, the authors explore the impact of this new method on orchestras throughout the late 20th. Not in the least shockingly, the number of women in the surveyed orchestras increased substantially. This clearly demonstrates that female musicians are well deserving of recognition in the industry.

The modern classical music industry professes to be sans traces of gender discrimination, but its true condition does not corroborate these claims. In fact, the very thing that bought female musicians a toehold in the male-dominated industry – blind auditions – clearly demonstrates that gendered discrimination is still disgustingly rampant. The introduction of the blind audition would not alter audition results if the industry were truly discrimination-free. However, it is evidently not, and the screen only contributes to equality by concealing gender altogether; its placatory presence does not at all erase the exigent need for gender equality. By way of a personal anecdote, a friend was advised to breathe quietly and wear flats to obfuscate all signs of her femininity in an audition for a prestigious youth orchestra. This was to ensure that that she would be judged based on her exceptional musical prowess regardless of gender identity.

Conducting is also a notoriously difficult discipline for women. One example of an orchestra led by a female conductor is the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, directed by Marin Alsop since 2007. Marin Alsop is one of the few who have openly addressed the experience of being a woman conductor as well as the first female director of a major American orchestra. Although female presence is certainly good, the fact that she was the “first” in this capacity is egregious. We should not let this distract us from the fact that, according to a study by the League of American Orchestras, more than 90% of professional orchestra directors in 2016 were still male. Even the composition, one of the most gender-exclusive fields in history, has become more receptive to female talent than conducting.

Alsop also suggests that women, even if successful, are still subjected to long-held conventional standards of femininity and heteronormativity. Soloists are expected to be attractive and are often sexualized, be it on album covers or in the media, and conventional femininity is also conspicuous in contributing to the dearth of female conductors. Music directors are expected to be assertive, powerful, and ambition – characteristics not typically associated with women. Gender roles even dictate repertoire; celebrated Finnish conductor Jorma Panula controversially suggested that for women conductors “Bruckner or Stravinsky will not do, but Debussy is okay” and that it is “purely an issue of biology”. Conventional gender roles link women and weakness, causing many to regard their cognitive and musical abilities with skepticism. Moreover, these same stumbling blocks also marginalize women across fields, especially in business. Such ingrained expectations discourage many women from pursuing music as a viable career and severely diminish their opportunity, thus perpetrating the vicious cycle.

Renowned conductor Susanna Mälkki has also spoken about the sexism in conducting, standing in contrast to Panula’s words although hailing from the same country. She was appointed Chief Conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic in 2014 with a contract continuing until 2021, and she was also named as the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s principal guest conductor. Mälkki is the first woman to have held either position, and indeed, one of the very few distinguished female conductors. She often shifts the focus of discussions and interviews away from gender and towards the music: a perfectly justified sentiment as gender should be irrelevant to music. However, recently she has been more open about the issue, stating that “women have been conducting for decades. They just haven’t been welcome. It’s as simple as that.”

True transformation can only come to pass when women are welcome across disciplines, even the most gender exclusive fields such as conducting. To eradicate sexism and promote ethical progress in classical music, it must first be exposed and treated with transparency by all professionals within the industry. The truth is that men are aided by the status quo that essentially excludes half their competition, and many men who recognize it do not appear to attempt to make any substantial difference. This must come to an end. Men remain the visible majority and their support for their female colleagues on the issue of gender inequality is a must. Some may argue that prioritizing women may engender a form of ‘reverse inequality’, but it is primarily a matter of fairness and equality to grant additional opportunities to women. Even so, this would neither erase historical injustices nor complete neutralize current prejudices. And if gender equality cannot be achieved, what chance do the other minorities stand?

It is fortuitous that women are finally permitted to permeate nearly every musical discipline, but the systemic exclusion of women is far from being eradicated. An instantaneous redressing of the lack of opportunity for women is impossible due to the historical exclusion. Although female musicians rightfully deserve applause for all the obstacles they have had to overcome, they continue to be severely hobbled due to an unrelenting, and oftentimes implicit, patriarchal influence. Further career tragedies such as those of Rebecca Clarke, Clara Schumann, and Fanny Mendelssohn can be obviated if we only take the time to listen: to the spectacular music women are producing, as well as to their voices and opinions. We must encourage the multitudes of determined and talented women who are currently producing captivating music. When art is commercialized, the best way to enact change is to support women’s work by creating demand for it. Although there are encouraging examples such as the exceptional Susanna Mälkki and Marin Alsop, more must be done. We can begin by programming more works by female composers both historical and contemporary, as well as recognizing the women who enjoy success. There simply needs to be more opportunity for women brave enough to pursue a career in classical music, and it all begins with recognition and open discussion of the problem.

[1] The judges voted Clarke’s sonata and a work by Bloch to be tied, but eventually, Bloch was declared the winner. Some opine that this was the better choice, as Coolidge, Clarke’s neighbour, avoided displaying favouritism.
[2] His Suite for Viola and Piano is also a prominent part of the viola repertoire, and his music synthesized Jewish themes, post-romanticism, and neoclassical influences.
[3] Most of her output was lost, but the portion that survived was sufficient to establish her as one of the most innovative Gregorian chant composers of the time, and her work became part of the religious repertoire.
[4] Improvisation was particularly integral to Baroque music. Such skills paved the male composer’s way to bona fide composition – notably Johann Sebastian Bach, who was revered for his intricate fugues as well as his ability to improvise them. Later, when the solo concerto became more prevalent and standardized, the soloist was expected to improvise or at least compose their own cadenza.
[5] In her early teens, Fanny played the entire Well-Tempered Clavier from memory, a feat that would still be astonishing today.
[6] A sentence in a letter from her father encapsulates this: “for you [music] can and must only be an ornament, never the basis of your being and doing.”
[7] This parallels how women were not allowed to act professionally during Shakespeare’s time; in both cases, the female roles would be taken by men. Men were cast as female characters in opera as well, furthering the comparison.

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