Historical Female Composers
When asked to name a female composer of the romantic or baroque periods, it is probable that few, if any, names come to mind. Throughout history there have been women who found their way into roles then reserved only for men:
- Joan of Arc, the saint who heard God's voice, and in obedience to that voice, led men across numerous battlefields, gained the French victory over England in the Hundred Years War.
- Sarah Emma Edmonds a.k.a. Private Thompson, a soldier in the Civil War.
- Clara Barton had no previous experience in the medical field, yet she aided in the acquisition and delivery of medical supplies, worked tirelessly among the wounded of the Civil War, and then founded that great organization, The Red Cross.
- Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Nellie Bly, and the list goes on.
Yet when it comes to the Arts, it has been a long and painstaking process to put together the names and compositions of countless women who authored in this period, and few organizations even showed interest in supporting the discovery of women composers.
Below are the links to websites with exhaustive amounts of history on early women composers. Some are filled with additional links to listen to some of the works, order CDs, sheet music, and literature available on the women and their lives.
: was developed by a female orchestra conductor, Diane Ambache, who cites the various prejudices precluding women from the music genre over the past 250 years. The list of these women is documented throughout her writings on the site.
: has books, recordings, sheet music, and recordings of medieval, classical, and contemporary music from the 12th century to the present. They have a specific list of women composers, including a brief bio and links to all their recordings located at their site.
: a complete database of over 6,000 women composers, listed alphabetically along with their dates and country of birth, and links to their individual websites, if they exist. A list of known recordings is included.
Women Composers Summary
: a database of over 400 women composers of all musical genres, who died prior to 1900. The site summary gives a thorough breakdown of those whose history, discography, books, and scores are most readily available today.
The following links are to individual women composer sites and contain a list of works, discography, biography, articles, interviews, and more: