Women In Choral Music

George Frideric Handel. Gionvannu Pierluigi da Palestrina. John Leavitt. Jacobus Finno. Irving Berlin. Deke Sharon. These are all of the known composers and arrangers of the songs that the NHS choruses recently performed. Notice anything interesting? I did not at first, but the more I rehearsed, the more I realized that every single one of these pieces were written by a man. It is so easy to point the finger at directors, conductors, music producers, and so on, but let us take a step back and realize just how many women have broken huge barriers in the classical music world, and why still many more have been excluded from it for centuries.

Choral music had its beginnings in the Catholic church, with Gregorian Chants and religious music. Women were not permitted to sing in church choirs; young boys were used instead to sing the soprano and alto parts. This continued throughout the Medieval Era and Renaissance Era, so it was not until the Baroque era that women started having more of a voice in vocal composition. During this period, convents began to emerge, so nuns worked on pieces for their nunries. Three of the most important figures in choral music production during the 1500s were the Aoletti sisters. Rafaella Aoletti became a nun at the San Vito convent, and there took the position as choral director. She composed both vocal and instrumental music. Her sister, Vittoria, worked on madrigals, which are non-religious pieces with multiple voice parts, and are typically performed a cappella. Another force during the Renaissance era was Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, who took her vows at eighteen and produced two important pieces; Cocerti sacri and Salmi a otto voci concertati. Marianna Von Martinez was born into a wealthy family, her father holding a high position at the church. This gave her a voice in music composition that many women of the time did not have. This trend continued throughout the romantic era, where only a few women with religious privilege could contribute to the choral world. Fanny Hensel was the only female composer to publish works from 1801-1860. Ethel Smyth and Amy Beach both wrote huge movements, both secular and religious, many of which were performed by groups such as the Royal Choral Society and Handel and Haydn Society. And these aren’t the only women who pushed the gender boundaries of the composing world during this time; we can also thank Fanny Hensel, Lily Boulanger, and Isabella Leonarda for their contributions (just to name a few).

Things finally started to change for women just before the modern era, which is largely due to the formation of The Society of Women’s Music. It was founded in 1839 by Lucy Anderson, Charlotte Dolby, and Ann Mounsey. At this point, women had been composing choral music, but still were not taken seriously as real musicians, even when it came to singing and playing instruments. It was difficult for them to get jobs or popularize their pieces, especially because they were banned from entering the Royal Society of Musicians. Prominent female vocalists, composers, and instrumentalists attended the first meeting on July 15th, 1911, and only a year after formation, the society boasted 152 members. The strides that the group made in amplifying female voices in the music world were immeasurable. They had an entire library for music composed by women and held a huge women-led concert. At the forefront of The Society of Women’s Music was the idea of female empowerment and support, and as such, the society hosted lectures and conferences that allowed aspiring female musicians to engage in discussions about music and their careers with other women." After 61 years, the society was terminated, but its members continued to carry out its mission and advocate for women’s rights, both in the choral world and beyond. Clearly, these women knew the value of supporting and educating one another, and in doing so, they paved the way for future generations of passionate, hard working women who were done being told that they didn’t have a place in the classical music world.

This progress towards representation in the musical world would only continue as time went on. After the 1900s, there was a flurry of choral works published by women. The music industry was beginning to see them for the talented, creative composers that they were. So why is it that in 2021, we still see a majority of choral concerts performing pieces written by men? Personally, I have found that a lot of people hold the belief that women only recently started publishing choral works, so someone who “prefers older, classical music” is well within their right to only select pieces written by men. While the majority of well-known older music was composed by men, this does not mean we should ignore the contributions that women made; in fact, it needs to be a priority for all choirs to select pieces written by underrepresented groups (such as women, people of color, the LGBTQIA+ community). The Orange County Choral Music by Women Composers Database is a great place to start if you’re looking to diversify your choral repertoire. Yes, women have traditionally been excluded from the classical genre of music, but if we continue excluding them from our performances, we are upholding the beliefs that kept them from being included in the first place. It’s time we started acknowledging the fundamental contributions women have made to classical music, and opening our minds (and our music binders) to pieces by voices that have been silenced for too long.