ABSTRACT
Feminist scholars have suggested that the dangerous position of music in Western culture as a 'feminine' activity led to the exclusion of women from its creation and to assert their power. The dominance of men within Palestrina seems to suggest that the opera will portray the true masculinity of the artist in a patriarchal world. Indeed, Pfitzner himself seemed to betray a wish to portray his character in this way when he referred to Palestrina's writing of the mass as 'a spiritual labour of Hercules'. The use of the 'feminine' by male musicians may be connected to the way in which music itself was gendered feminine, which potentially placed the composer in an awkward position. Furthermore, the notion of androgyny is denoted as 'masculine' and 'feminine' characteristics; if femininity were not seen as radically distinct from masculinity, there could be no androgyny, and therefore no possibility for the genius to encompass and transcend both genders.
