A Century of Composition by Women: Music Against the Odds

Foreword
Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Composing Women’s (Very) Long 100-Year Fight: Evolutions, Illuminations, Solutions
Introduction
Part I: Creative Work—Then and Now
Part II: The State of Industry in the Present Day
Part III: Creating; Collaborating: Composer and Performer Reflections
Conclusion
References
Part I: Creative Work: Then and Now
Chapter 2: Synaesthetic Associations and Gendered Nature Imagery: Female Agency in the Piano Music of Amy Beach
Introduction
Background
Theories of Musical Gendering
Eskimos: Four Characteristic Pieces for the Pianoforte, Opus 64
From Grandmother’s Garden, Opus 97
Four Sketches, Opus 15
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Australian Bush Songs as Multimodal Discourse: The Remarkable Collaboration of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, Annie Rentoul, and Georgette Peterson
Introduction
Brilliant Careers Intertwined
A Golden Age for Children’s Literature and Music
‘Autumn Wind’: Counterpoint, Paradox, and Irony
‘Gobble Wobbles’: Signifiers, Denotation, Connotation, and Myth
Notions of Good and Evil: Existential Narratives
Notions of Gender: The Triumph of the Feminine
The Bush Songs: Syntagmatic or Symptomatic?
Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: The 1940s Australian Ballet That “Far Outstripped … ‘Swan Lake’ in Popular Appeal”: Esther Rofe’s Ground-Breaking Ballet, Sea Legend
“This Is a Ballet That Will Surely Be Seen All Over the World”
Background to Sea Legend
“Captivating”, a “Masterpiece”: “Far Outstripped … ‘Swan Lake’ in Popular Appeal”
Genre, Gender and Larger-Scale Orchestral Significance
Recognition of Sea Legend
References
Chapter 5: Italians, Indians and the Indigenous: Innovative Themes and Material Used in Operas Written by Early-Twentieth-Century Australian Women Composers
Introduction
The Invisible Women Composers of Opera
Mona McBurney
Florence Donaldson-Ewart
Margaret Sutherland
Meta Overman
Peggy Glanville-Hicks
An Unknown Operatic Tradition
References
Chapter 6: “Conjuring Up the Magic”: Helen Gifford’s Compositional Passage to the Creation of Fable for Solo Harp
Introduction
Australian Composition in the 1960s
Gifford’s Formative Years: Cultivating and Concealing Her Calling
Early Compositions: Accidents, Exercises and Critical Acclaim 1955–1967
The Rise of the Harp as a Solo Concert Instrument
The Fable Commission and Huw Jones’s Performances
Harp Literature of the Mid-Twentieth Century
The Critical Reception of Fable
A Compositional Legacy
References
Chapter 7: Of Broken Trees and Elephant Ivories: The Revivification of the Colonial Piano Manifested Through a New Work by Catherine Milliken
Introduction
Background on the Historical Context of Colonial Pianos in Australia
The Piano of Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894): A Cultural Perspective
Catherine Milliken’s Utilisation of Music and Text from Robert Louis Stevenson in Her Work Steel-True Gold-Sole (Sounding Robert Louis Stevenson) (2016)
References
Chapter 8: Beyond Exploitation: Feminist Satire in Jennifer Walshe’s XXX_LIVE_NUDE_GIRLS!!!
Introduction
Opera: XXX_LIVE_NUDE_GIRLS!!! (2003)
Feminist Satire and Reclaiming Humour
Satirising Gender Performativity
Satire or Exploitation? The Rape Scene
Conclusion
References
Chapter 9: Hildegard’s Daughters: Women Composers “Overcoming Their Astonishment”
Introduction
Epicœne, the Silent Woman
Structural Support: Missing in Action
New Music: A Splinter Group
Lingering Unconscious Bias
Statistical Truths
Patriarchal Mechanisms?
Affirmative Administration
Industry: Scapegoat or Perpetrator?
“It’s All Academic”
References
Chapter 10: Is the Category of the “Woman Artist” Still Helpful?
Introduction
Central Core Imagery and the Feminine Sensibility
Sexual Difference and Feminist Art History
Inside the Visible and the Feminine
References
Part II: The State of the Industry in the Present Day
Chapter 11: “Dear Women Composers in Australia (and Beyond)”: (A Letter from a Music Critic)
Introduction
Addressing Visibility
Advocating for Change
Leveraging Media Exposure: A “Letter to Women Composers”
Conclusion
References
Chapter 12: Programming Orchestral Repertoire by Women Composers: Challenges and Opportunity
Introduction
Technical Standards and Requirements
Music Performance Standards
Compositional Features
Featured Orchestral Works
Sanchito’s Samba (2016) by Loreta Fin
Carmen Vitae (2000) by Katy Abbott
A Fan of Nelson Fare (2001)—Fritha Jameson
Firecracker for Full Orchestra (1998)—Lissa Meridan
Notable Works for Youth Orchestra
Future Directions for the Field
References
Chapter 13: Troubleshooting Gender in the Australian Screen Music Industry: An Insider Perspective
Introduction
The Meritocracy Myth and Quotas
Invisibility
Discrimination, Harassment and Bias
Education
AGSC Roundtable 2016
Pathways to Change
Conclusion
References
Chapter 14: Programming with Gender Parity in Call-Based New Music Festivals
Introduction
Gender Research in Darmstadt
Methods for Programming with Parity
Overview of Programmes Aimed at Promoting Change
Case Study: Tilde New Music Festival
Findings
References
Chapter 15: Mentoring Emerging Women Composers
Introduction
Mentoring in the Workplace
Gender Balance in Programming
Women at the Symphony
The TSO Australian Composers’ School
Composing Women at the Sydney Conservatorium
Mentoring: Does It Work?
References
Chapter 16: Content Targets Work: A Practical Example of Changing Behaviours and Processes in Programming Women Composers
Introduction
Background
Initial Observations
International Women’s Day 2017
Revising the Target
International Women’s Day 2018
Changes to Regular Programming
Festival of Female Composers 2019 and 2020
The Path Forward
References
Chapter 17: Working Towards Gender Equality and Empowerment in Australian Music Culture
Introduction
Women and Policy in Australia
Measuring Privilege and Merit
Income from Music for Women
Perceptions Versus Statistics
Mentoring and Education
Workplace Pitfalls
Movement for Change
References
Part III: Creating; Collaborating: Composer and Performer Reflections
Chapter 18: The Book of Daughters and The Sonic aGender Guitar Project: Inclusivity as Guiding Principle
Diversity and Inclusion: The Music Industry
JOLT Arts and The Book of Daughters
Inclusion and (Dis)ability
The (Massed) Electric Guitar
Gender and the Electric Guitar
The Sonic aGender Guitar Project: A Radical Punk Rock Feminist Statement
Moving Forward: Conclusions
References
Chapter 19: When We Speak: Creating (“Something Personal”) in a Three-Level Collaboration
Introduction
Personal History: Tertiary Education and the Missing Woman Composer
Creating “Something Personal” (After Saariaho:) “That’s the Only Thing That Counts”
Saariaho and the “Other”: Feeling Affirmed
Saariaho’s Sept Papillons (2000) as a Launching Pad
Role of the Cello and the Voice (with Saariaho) in When We Speak
Structure, Pitch and Harmony
Problematising Agency
“Something Personal”
“Speaking” on Vulnerability
References
Chapter 20: “It Gently Makes Itself Known…”: A Composer and Performer Discuss the Genesis and Practice of Cranes for Solo Viola
Introduction
Phoebe Green (Violist) in Conversation with Lisa Illean (Composer) on August 11, 2017, at the Australian National University, Canberra
Reference
Chapter 21: Children’s Opera in the Twenty-First Century: The Child-Centred Approach to Writing
Introduction
An Interdisciplinary Approach
A Conceptual and Theoretical Framework
Libretto Development: Dramatic Premise
Libretto Development: Understanding Operatic Character
Conclusion
References
Chapter 22: Making Music in A Chorus of Women
Prologue
Lament and Listening into Being
Chorus: The Generative Substratum in Creative Action
The Mythic Scale of Current Crises: The Big Works
Concertare: “So Many Different Voices”
Epilogue
References
Index