The Role of Women in the Musical Life of the 19th Century.
Chayamon Sanmueang 2750922 chayamon.sanmueang@griffithuni.edu.au
The Romantic Imagination (2103 QCM)
Semester 2, 2012
Convenor – Mr.Stephen Emmerson
The role of women in the musical life of the 19th century.
Due: 4 October 2012
The 19th century was an era of change. There were lots of progression in technology, science, and philosophy that gradually turned European society away from the past centuries. Women’s status in the 19th century Europe also changed. Many of the 19th century women were able to have a profession as they received higher and wider education, and also allowed to have more participation in society. In the musical life of 19th century Europe, numbers of women were able to perform and compose as good and men. However, their opportunities were still limited by tradition. Therefore, the role of the 19th century women as performers and composers was not equal to men, as can be seen in the case of Fanny Hansel, a sibling of the well known composer Felix Mendelssohn.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the numbers of female amateur musicians rose due to the increasingly prosperity of the middle classes. According to Reich (1991), most women from well-to-do families had an opportunity to learn to play the piano or sing in order to improve their marriage opportunities as well as to provide entertainment. However, the influence of the Enlightenment philosophy from the past century indicated that women should only be educated to become a wife and a mother, preventing the early 19th century women from taking music as a profession (Halstead, 1997). In the same way, Fanny Mendelssohn, the eldest child of a wealthy converted Jewish family in 19th century Germany was given piano lessons from a young age by her mother, then continued to study with several famous pianists until she became an excellent pianist. At the age of thirteen she demonstrated her amazing musical memory by playing all preludes from the first book of Bach’s Well -Tempered
The Romantic Imagination (2103 QCM)
Semester 2, 2012
Convenor – Mr.Stephen Emmerson
The role of women in the musical life of the 19th century.
Due: 4 October 2012
The 19th century was an era of change. There were lots of progression in technology, science, and philosophy that gradually turned European society away from the past centuries. Women’s status in the 19th century Europe also changed. Many of the 19th century women were able to have a profession as they received higher and wider education, and also allowed to have more participation in society. In the musical life of 19th century Europe, numbers of women were able to perform and compose as good and men. However, their opportunities were still limited by tradition. Therefore, the role of the 19th century women as performers and composers was not equal to men, as can be seen in the case of Fanny Hansel, a sibling of the well known composer Felix Mendelssohn.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the numbers of female amateur musicians rose due to the increasingly prosperity of the middle classes. According to Reich (1991), most women from well-to-do families had an opportunity to learn to play the piano or sing in order to improve their marriage opportunities as well as to provide entertainment. However, the influence of the Enlightenment philosophy from the past century indicated that women should only be educated to become a wife and a mother, preventing the early 19th century women from taking music as a profession (Halstead, 1997). In the same way, Fanny Mendelssohn, the eldest child of a wealthy converted Jewish family in 19th century Germany was given piano lessons from a young age by her mother, then continued to study with several famous pianists until she became an excellent pianist. At the age of thirteen she demonstrated her amazing musical memory by playing all preludes from the first book of Bach’s Well -Tempered