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Feminist Perspectives

List of Composers

Discography

Resource Books

Scores

MIDI

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I created this website to enable women's compositions before 1900 to become more accessible to students and educators.  I felt that this was important step in promoting the acknowledgment of women composers in music education. This data-base contains the following:

1.  Literature on the history of women composers before 1900, including:

• A bibliography of forty-six books related to the subject.
• Links to where fifteen of these books can be purchased on the Internet.
• Descriptions of seven of these books (retrieved from purchase site).

The most useful of these books are:

• Briscoe, J.R. (Ed.). (1992). Historical Anthology of Music by Women.  Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• Jezic, D.P. & Wood, E. (1993). Women Composers: The Lost Tradition Found. New York: Feminist Press.
• Pendle, K. (2001), Women and Music: A History. Indiana: Indiana University Press.
•  Schleifer M.F. & Glickman S. (Eds.)? (2005). Women Composers: Music Through The Ages, 12 Volumes. New York:  G.K. Hall.

2.  A list of 419 women composers before 1900, including:

• Separate lists (composers in alphabetical order) under the headings of:
• Ancient and Byzantine (5)
• Medieval (29)
• Renaissance (42)
• Early Baroque (46)
• Late Baroque and Classical (158)
• Romantic (139)

• 309 of the composers listed have either a short comment or short biography.
• 147 of the composer entries contain links to one or more of the following: scores, discographies, midi files or other Internet sites.

The best-known of these composers (eighteen in total), according to available literature and Internet link availability are:

• Agnesi-Pinottina (d'), Maria Teresa (pseud., Francesco Mainini) (1720-1795, Italy)
• Assandra, Caterina (b.ca.1580, fl.1609, Northern Italy)
• Bembo, Antonia (c1640- c1722, Padua or Venice)
• Caccini, Francesca (1587-1640, Italy)
• Gambarini (de), Elisabetta (1731-1765) (pub. 1748, 1750?, London)
• Gines, Teodora (fl. 1600, Cuba of African descent)
• Guerre (de la), Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet (1659-1729, Paris)
• Hensel, Fanny Cecilia Mendelssohn (1805-1847, Germany)
• Hildegarde of Bingen (1098-1179, Germany)
• Kassia (ca.810-ca.843-867, Constantinople)
• LeBrun Francesca Danzi (1756-1791, Mannheim)
• Leonarda (Leonardo), Isabella (1620-1704, Novara)
• Martinez (Martines) (von), Marianne (1744-1812, Vienna)
• Paradis (Paradies) (von), Maria Theresia (1759-1824, Vienna)
• Schumann, Clara Josephine Wieck (1819-1896, Germany)
• Sirmen (Sirman/Syrmen), Maddelena (Maddalina, Maddalena) Laura Lombardini (1735/45?-1818 or 1720-1795, Italy)
• Strozzi, Barbara (1619-1664 or later, Venice)
• Venezia (di), Anna Bon (Boni) (b.1738, Venice)

3.  Scores by women composers before 1900, including:

• An alphabet listing of 100 relevant composers.
• Links to where 270 relevant scores can be purchased.

The best-known composers according to the number of scores available (five or more) are:

• Agnesi-Pinottina (d'), Maria Teresa (pseud., Francesco Mainini) (1720-1795, Italy)
• Essex, Margaret (1775, England)
• Farrenc, Jeanne Louise Dumont (1804-1875, Paris)
• Guerre (de la), Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet (1659-1729, Paris)
• Hensel, Fanny Cecilia Mendelssohn (1805-1847, Germany)
• Hildegarde of Bingen (1098-1179, Germany)
• Leonarda (Leonardo), Isabella (1620-1704, Novara)
• Reichardt, Louise (1779-1826, Germany)
• Schumann, Clara Josephine Wieck (1819-1896, Germany)
• Sirmen (Sirman/Syrmen), Maddelena (Maddalina, Maddalena) Laura Lombardini (1735/45?-1818 or 1720-1795, Italy)
• Szymanowska, Marie Wolowska (1789-1831, Poland)
• Zumsteeg, Emilie (1796-1857, Germany)

4.  Feminist literature relating to women composers, including:

• A bibliography of seventeen books or electronic data base articles related to the subject.
• Links to where twelve of these books can be purchased on the Internet.
• Descriptions of eleven of these books (retrieved from purchase site).

The most useful of these books are:

• Battersby, C. (1989). Gender and Genius: Towards a Feminist Aesthetic. London: The Women’s Press.
• Bernstein, J.A. (2003). Women's Voices Across Musical Worlds. USA: Northeastern University Press.
• Citron, M.J. (2000). Gender and the Musical Canon. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
• Erickson, M. (1995). Women and Music: A Selective Bibliography on Women and Gender Issues in Music, 1987-1992. New York: G. K. Hall.
• McClary, S. (2002). Feminine Endings:  Music, Gender and Sexuality.  Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.

5.  Discography of recordings by women composers before 1900 including:

• a short-cut alphabetical list of sixty-four women composers before 1900 whose works have been recorded.
• 144 links to relevant recordings available for purchase on the Internet.
• 376 individually listed recordings of compositions by women before 1900.
• twenty-two women composers before 1900 – linked to forty MIDI files.

The best-known composers according to the number of recorded compositions available (five or more) are:

• Birgitta of Sweden (St.) (ca.1303-1373)
• Caccini, Francesca (1587-1640, Italy)
• Cozzolani (Cozzelani), Chiara Margarita (1602-ca.1678, Milan)
• Dia (de), Comtessa Beatriz (attested in 1212)
• Guerre (de la), Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet (1659-1729, Paris)
• Hensel, Fanny Cecilia Mendelssohn (1805-1847, Germany)
• Hildegard(e) of Bingen (1098-1179, Germany)
• Leonarda (Leonardo), Isabella (1620-1704, Novara)
• Martinez (Martines) (von), Marianne (1744-1812, Vienna)
• Paradis (Paradies) (von), Maria Theresia (1759-1824, Vienna)
• Pickering, Jane (early 1600's)
• Schumann, Clara Josephine Wieck (1819-1896, Germany)
• Sirmen (Sirman/Syrmen), Maddelena (Maddalina, Maddalena) Laura Lombardini (1735/45?-1818, Italy)
• Strozzi, Barbara (1619-1664 or later, Venice)
• Venezia (di), Anna Bon (Boni) (b.1738, Venice) (pub. c.1760)
• Vizzana (Vizana), Lucrezia Orsina (1590-1662)

The best-known composers with the most midi files available (five or more) are:

• Guerre (de la), Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet (1659-1729, Paris)
• Schumann, Clara Josephine Wieck (1819-1896, Germany)

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The individual woman composers before 1900 that appear underneath each of the above underlined headings could be deemed as the most popular, or at least the most prolific according to my research.  They include:

• Guerre (de la), Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet (1659-1729, Paris)
• Hensel, Fanny Cecilia Mendelssohn (1805-1847, Germany)
• Hildegarde of Bingen (1098-1179, Germany)
• Leonarda (Leonardo), Isabella (1620-1704, Novara)
• Schumann, Clara Josephine Wieck (1819-1896, Germany)
• Sirmen (Sirman/Syrmen), Maddelena (Maddalina, Maddalena) Laura Lombardini (1735/45?-1818, Italy)

Although the resources available for women composers before 1900 represent a tiny fraction of what is available for their male counterparts, there are ample resources available for their inclusion in music education.


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