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