Women at the Piano: Solo Works by Female Composers of the Nineteenth Century ed. by Nicolas Hopkins (review)

This reasonably-priced collection of twenty-eight piano compositions by nineteenth-century female composers is an excellent addition to all types of library collections and for pianists seeking to broaden their repertoire. According to the editor, Nicolas Hopkins, it is "an attempt to offer recognition to an unacknowledged and largely unknown repertory" (p. 16). In addition to works by well-known composers like Clara Schumann, Fanny Hensel, and Maria Szymanowska, are samples from such obscure composers as Fredrikke Egeberg and Delphine von Schauroth. Hopkins provides biographical notes and discussion of all pieces, which are particularly useful for those for whom biographical information is not readily available. Many of the works contained here have not been published since their first edition (many available on IMSLP.) They have all been newly transcribed in easy-to-read modern editions.

This anthology more accurately could have been titled Mostly European Women at the Piano. With the exception of Clara Rogers, an American, all women represented here were European—half of them being German. Of notable absence are American Amy Beach (1867–1944) and Venezuelan Teresa Carreño (1853–1917), both prolific writers for the piano. France is represented by three composers, followed by Poland and Norway with two each. Austria, the United States, and Sweden are only represented by one composer. The time represented is similarly narrow, representing primarily the early part of the nineteenth century. The earliest composer is Maria Szymanowska (1789–1831) while the latest is Luise Le Beau (1850–1927.) Some late Romantic music would have rounded out the anthology.

Nicholas Hopkins's extensive introduction gives a good overview of the musical education and position of women in the nineteenth century, beginning with a comparison of the Mozart siblings. Wolfgang and his older sister, Nannerl, were given similar musical educations by their father, Leopold, and were taken on a "Grand Tour" of Europe from 1763–1766 during which they both performed. For Wolfgang, this was a chance for exposure to a wider world of musical styles and for the world to be exposed to this young prodigy. For Nannerl, this was also perhaps an eye-opening exposure to the vast difference in treatment of men and women. Whereas Wolfgang gained immortality as a composer and performer, when Nannerl came of age her education ceased and she became cloistered in domesticity. Like Wolfgang and Nannerl, Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn were given identical musical educations. These educations, however, served different purposes: for the men it was preparation for a career as a professional musician, one that was intended to support a family and lifestyle through paid performances, publication, and sponsorship. For the women it was almost exploitative: in Nannerl's case her father capitalized on her exceptional talent as a young woman; a talent she herself could not use to her advantage as a mature adult. Fanny's father made his thoughts perfectly clear on the matter: "you must prepare more earnestly and eagerly for your real calling, the onlycalling of a young woman—I mean the state of a housewife" (p. 21).

A musical education made clear to future suitors that the young woman's family was of sufficient means to afford musical instruments, lessons, and the leisure time to invest in study. An accomplished wife reflected well on a man: a woman who organized a successful musical salon brought a host of influential people into his home and displayed how well he had done for himself. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution and well into the nineteenth century, bourgeois society was strongly influenced by the idea of separate spheres—a public sphere where men dominated and a private sphere, the home, the space for women. While women were confined...