Issue link: http://saihq.uberflip.com/i/1212177
Winter 2020 28 PAN PIPES FEMALE COMPOSERS, CONDUCTORS, PER- FORMERS: MUSICIENNES OF INTERWAR FRANCE, 1919-1939 Laura Hamer. Routledge, 2018. 218 pg In this monograph, Laura Hamer, an associate professor of music at Liverpool Hope University and an authority on women in music, sets out to describe the milieu of women working in the musical professions in France between the two world wars. She largely succeeds in bringing to life a subject that no one before has seemed compelled to study and demonstrates that the musical women of this time and place lived lives worthy of notice. Hamer begins her book by documenting the changes that World War I brought to French society in terms of the roles of women in the workforce, the development of feminism, and societal expectations of women after the war had concluded, with particular attention to those in musical occupations. Educational and professional opportunities were also altered after the war; for instance classes at the Paris Conservatoire became co-educational, with women no longer being segregated from men. Furthermore, there were faculty members there, such as Charles- Marie Widor, Paul Dukas, and Vincent d'Indy, who especially welcomed and encouraged female composition students. Private teachers like Nadia Boulanger also began to enjoy more acclaim and prestige. Women also experienced more performance opportunities in the inter- war years and Hamer gives specific examples of these. She also describes the critical response to women musicians, and explains how, although there was a more positive reception towards them, this praise was often couched in condescending language emphasizing their femininity. In contradiction to any advances women experienced in the field of music, there were still many barriers, including discriminatory treatment from publishers and limitations in what they were allowed to perform. Following her introductory chapters, Hamer divides the remainder of the book into two sections, devoted to "Woman as Composers" and "Women as Performers." The first of these parts includes a chapter on some of the female winners of the Prix de Rome in the interwar years. Although Hamer acknowledges the first female winner of the Prix for composition, Lili Boulanger, she primarily focuses on two other composers, Marguerite Canal and Jeanne Leleu. The careers and music of Canal and Leleu are examined in detail, enough that the reader sees how unfortunate it is that these women are not remembered more today. Another chapter is devoted to the lone woman member of Les Six group of composers, Germaine Tailleferre. Hamer includes biographical information and an in-depth analysis of Tailleferre's career as a composer. The final chapter in this section addresses the musical contributions of Paul Dukas's composition students, Elsa Barraine, Yvonne Desportes, and Claude Arrieu. The path they followed to success in their field, as well as the roles they settled into in interwar society, are dealt with. The final section of the book is devoted to "Women as Performers." Here, Hamer includes chapters on women conductors and all-women orchestras, and women performers. She begins by detailing the history of women conductors, who first appeared in the years right before World War I, including the founding of the Orchestra of the UFPCM (Union des Femmes Professeurs et Compositeurs de Musique), the first all-women orchestra in France. Hamer then relates the experiences of Jane Evrard and Nadia Boulanger as conductors. In the final chapter on women musicians, she briefly reminds the reader of the instruments that at the time were considered most appropriate for women, particularly piano, harp and violin. The careers of three particular French musicians, pianist Marguerite Long, violinist Ginette Neveu, and harpsichordist Wanda Landowska are explored in detail. Overall, I found this book to be a fount of information on a subject about which I knew practically nothing. One can assume that women in countries other than France shared similar experiences, but it would be wonderful for further scholarship to delve further into the subject. Hamer is to be commended for reminding us that the world of women in music is still largely unexplored, and proves with her book that our knowledge can only be enriched by bringing it further into the light. Kathi Bower Peterson, an SAI Philanthropies coordinator, is a graduate of Indiana University, where she majored in music history and was a member of Iota Epsilon chapter. She has an MM in musicology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an MLIS from San Jose State University. She has been the librarian at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library in La Jolla, CA for 22 years and currently serves as the treasurer of the San Diego County Alumnae Chapter. REVIEWS NAME INITIATING CHAPTER INITIATION DATE RESIDENCE FRIEND OF THE ARTS Howard Genrich Long Beach 11/9/2014 Long Beach, CA Dr. Norman L. Heimgartner Tacoma 5/16/1998 Tacoma, WA John Marvin Theta Epsilon 5/28/2005 Turlock, CA David Machleid Fort Lauderdale 4/21/2012 Hialeah, FL Thomas F. Morris Kansas City 2/9/2003 Kansas City, MO Chris P. Xeros Dallas 12/1/1979 Richardson, TX NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE Joseph Rezits Bloomington, IN 10/15/1995 Bloomington, IN MEMBER LAUREATE Jessye M. Norman Delta Nu 1/10/1965 Crugers, NY COMPOSER Arthur Cohn Cedar Falls, IA MEMORIAM continued from page 27