ABSTRACT
The twentieth century marked a dramatic expansion in compositional activity for women. The opening of conservatory classes to women began a period of unprecedented access to music theory and orchestration coursework—critical knowledge required of composers. Making a living as a composer, however, takes more than musical ability and education. In many ways, non-musical aspects of the composition profession in the twentieth century were even more difficult for women to attain, and thus delayed the full integration of women into the compositional world for much of the century. To highlight the work of women composers from the twentieth century to the present, this chapter focuses on representative examples of both large-scale and experimental works. It is simultaneously a view of growth in women’s composition, as well as an investigation of the types of networking required to make a permanent mark on the art-music world. The works of the following composers are included as representative examples: Amy Beach, Germaine Tailleferre, Ruth Crawford Seeger, Florence Price, Ellen Zwilich, Chen Yi, Meredith Monk, and Jennifer Higdon.
