Music 301/501

Women in Music

19^th Century Song Literature

General Traits of Romantic Music:

• Expression is more important than form; less regularity, predictability
• Harmony more intricate, complex, chromatic
• Expansion: everything gets longer
• Great interest in program music
• Lots of Romantic poetry; themes:

·         Wanderlust, Nature

·         Longing for the unattainable, unrequited love

·         Supernatural, occult

• Piano becomes very important instrument: great range of expression
• Most 19^th C women composers still had musician-parents, and had frequent contact with famous poets; also they usually had private music teachers
• Some didn’t have much family encouragement
• Some published music in collection father’s or brother’s work; sometimes not attributed to the woman
• Lieder (Art Song): usually based on contemporary poetry of high order, sometimes on more folk-like poetry, e.g. Arnim & Brentano’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn, a source used by many 19^th Century composers
• Lied was a principal genre for women 1775-1850. The style underwent development during this period:

·         Earlier (1775-1825): folk-like settings, strophic, four-bar phrasing, diatonic melody and harmony, syllabic text setting, sparse accomp.

·         Examples: Zumsteeg, Paradis, Reichardt

·         Later (1825-50): greater virtuosity and independence in piano, more harmonic variety, diverse structures, less symmetrical phrasing, tonal ambiguity in voice part

·         Examples: Hensel and Schumann

·         Louise Reichardt (1779-1826) (example of earlier style):

• Father was composer in court of Frederick the Great, and a favorite of Goethe
• Unusual in not having performing career before composing
• Also unusually independent: left family safety, worked as choral director in Hamburg; bourgeois society dictated accessible style
• Her songs have simple melodies, harmonies, piano accompaniments

·         Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847): prolific composer (>400 works, mostly unpublished), virtuoso pianist

• Received early piano instruction from mother; later famous teachers
• Discouraged from composing and esp. publishing by Brother and Father; encouraged to publish by Mother and Husband. 
• Inherited musical tradition from Mother and Aunt who were students of JS Bach’s students or sons.  Led to more awareness and use of Baroque genres
• Family had musical gatherings on Sundays: Fanny performed (private).  Most of her comps written with private gatherings in mind
• Lots of exposure to famous poets, philosophers, scientists etc.

·         Josephine Lang (1815-1880)

• Musical parents (mother opera singer, father court musician at Munich)
• Professional singer by age 21, also a skilled pianist
• Married a poet, which supplied inspiration
• Prolific: Composed 150 songs, several piano works.  One of most-published women composers of Romantic

• Considered a progressive composer of Lieder

·         Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896)

• Oldest child of Friedrich Wieck (famous piano pedagogue), Marianne Tromlitz (singer).  Marriage broke up when Clara was 5
• Wieck pushed Clara to learn piano very young

·         Clara was very successful on concert tours.  Premiered works by Chopin, R. Schumann, and Brahms.  Concert career continued through whole life: often only support of family

·         Thought of herself as interpreter rather than creator of music

·         Best known for piano works but also wrote many songs

·         Her Lieder were conservative, especially in harmony; but often contained lengthy piano sections (later romantic trait)

·         Pauline Viardot-Garcia (1821-1910)

·         Born to musical family, both parents opera singers

·         Traveled widely (America, Mexico) when very young

·         Played piano well from very early age, studied composition from age 11

·         When older studied piano with Franz Liszt

·         Became opera singer herself at age 18

·         Many composers wrote compositions for her

·         Composed operettas, but primarily song-writer (over100 songs)