title: Revising the canon: Tracking industry challenges for female composers through a case study of Rebecca Clarke's life and work
Creators: name: Grimwood, Rachel Emily
Publisher: name: Griffith University
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Rebecca Clark
subject: Female composers
subject: Feminist musicology
subject: Performing canon
subject: Musicological research

description: The unique challenges faced by female composers throughout history have led to their relative invisibility compared to their male counterparts. The extensive and ground breaking work of musicologists in the twentieth century helped to bring these composers out of obscurity; however, issues of representation and acceptance still exist for female composers past and present. This dissertation explores the historical reasons behind the lack of female composers in Western performing canon, and the challenges present and past female composers face and have faced in their careers. Using Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) as a central case study, it will investigate why female composers such as Clarke are programmed so infrequently, and what specific challenges Rebecca Clarke faced as a female composer and violist. Western female composers through history have faced many challenges that prevented them from creating freely. The main reason for the limited number of historical female composers is that many women simply did not have the resources and time to study music and then to compose as a career. Those that had access to these resources were shut out of the professional world and thus wrote only for the private sphere, meaning their activities did not gain wide public exposure and critical reception. Because of these historical limitations and prejudices, female composers are still not frequently programmed. Feminist musicology emerged in the twentieth century with research by scholars such as Drinker, Neuls-Bates, Bowers &amp; Tick, Reich, McLary, Solie, Citron, and many more, and has gradually gained momentum and influence. The inclusion of women in musicological research resulted in significant progress for musicology and broader discussions of social history and historical context in relation to music. Unfortunately, this change did not transfer to the performing canon. Negative attitudes towards female composers are persistent and deeply rooted in the historical roles and expectations placed on women. Rebecca Clarke, a twentieth century English composer, strived to support and promote other women while persistently pursuing her two passions: composition and playing the viola. She faced challenges such as low self esteem, invalidation by others, and the tendency to devalue her own work. This reflects both the cultural attitudes from the previous century and the tumultuous social climate of the early twentieth century, a time when women were fighting for equal rights and facing tremendous backlash. Though she would not have considered herself a feminist or an activist, Clarke was part of a lineage of female composers putting their creations out into the world despite being greatly outnumbered by male artists. An in-depth study of the industry challenges Clarke experienced provides a valuable example and point of comparison for challenges faced by women before and after this time of change. The decisions made by programmers of music are necessarily influenced by the prejudices that persist within our culture, thereby influencing the canon. Compared to Rebecca Clarke’s time, women now are much more accepted as composers; however, there are continuing problems of representation. Sexist attitudes persist in today’s classical music scene. Despite this, countermeasures are gaining traction, as a result of continued investigation and reporting on the issues. This research analyses the reasons behind the lack of representation of female composers, while bringing their works and activism to light and exploring the way forward from here.