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| Women Composers https://westlondonchat.com/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=1778 |
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| Author: | Marian [ Fri Nov 14, 2014 4:09 am ] |
| Post subject: | Women Composers |
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... -composers At last, some focus on women composers! I feel less guilty about presenting some of my songs and music on here now. I have read that there is room for optimism for women who compose music and this is very recently (2014). Sadly, a little too late for me though. 
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| Author: | davrob [ Fri Nov 14, 2014 11:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
Women composers have been around since the middle ages, but although they were expected to be "accomplished" in performance to entertain their menfolk, they were not expected to make a career out of it. There's a web site somewhere that lists all the women who have been composers over the centuries and it's surprisingly huge. The trouble has been getting the public to take any notice of them. Marian, I know, has been composing for years, and many of her compositions are on her website, well worth a visit. (See under "Photos") |
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| Author: | Marian [ Sat Nov 15, 2014 3:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
Thanks for the above Davrob. It is interesting that when I was studying music during Mellow Lane days, it was mostly girls (in my year) who took music GCE with Brian Trant. |
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| Author: | davrob [ Sat Nov 15, 2014 10:04 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
Could that be down to the fact that he was also directing the Mellow Lane Girls Choir? I can see the two going together. |
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| Author: | Marian [ Sun Nov 16, 2014 7:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
That is a good point and as you were one of the boys at Mellow Lane, Davrob, maybe you could answer whether there being a mainly Girl's choir could have influenced you, and other boys, to leave music out of their O Levels. Brian seemed to be really happy about the boys being involved in some concerts but to change to a mixed choir would have meant a complete change of repertoire and more or less starting again. I believe a lot would have still preferred sport it they had to choose and maybe Brian realised that and so kept to directing a Girl's choir. 
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| Author: | davrob [ Sun Nov 16, 2014 9:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
I remember being reluctant to join in the singing for the Christmas concert at first, probably because it was considered a girl's thing. I don't think it was specifically because it was a Girl's Choir that some boys kept away. I was eventually persuaded by some of the boys who had already joined in, and I'm quite certain that the main reason they were in was the fact that most of them were dating girls in the choir. Once in of course the music making weaved it's spell. I enjoyed it so much that I was ready to accede to Brian's persuasion to join his church choir at St. Andrew's, Uxbridge. |
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| Author: | Marian [ Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:31 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
But what about the subject of music? Not just singing but learning about the theory of music, and the works of great composers, choral work etc. Surely all that could be something that boys could find interesting and would have been in classes with the girls as well It is ironic that after girls have studied hard, they then have a struggle to gain credibility in the music industry because, in most cases, it is the gentlemen who make decisions and judgements on submitted works. Some do not have the musical knowledge and have worked their way into, and then higher up in the music business by being able to get employment as A&R reps, even tea-boys, postal-clerks. They gained contacts, experience and power by working in publishing offices or with record-labels. They, then, are the people who can make or break the aspirations of people who have a musical knowledge, and women hardly get their feet off the ground before their confidence is wrecked. In classical music, it may be easier for women if they want to be composers and are able to go on to Music Academies, but the few I know of are not really well-known and so it is possible they come up against the same barriers. I'm not quite sure what the barriers actually are, but whatever, they do seem to be there. I know that my own musical knowledge has been used to advantage others in the commercial business (in a quiet way) but no credibility and recognition for the help of my knowledge. It is a thought-provoking situation. I will try to find the names of the women-composers in recent times for interest.
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| Author: | Marian [ Mon Nov 17, 2014 4:03 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
davrob wrote: Could that be down to the fact that he was also directing the Mellow Lane Girls Choir? I can see the two going together. I was keen to take my GCE in music anyway, regardless of the fact that Brian was directing the Mellow Lane Girl's Choir. I was already having piano lessons and so to pass the theory of music as an O Level was more going together with that. It also meant that to pass the London GCE O Level was equivalent to the 5 Associated Board theory grades. The GCE work covered more besides and the study of Elgar's Enigma Variations was work I probably wouldn't have done if taking private theory lessons. So, although maybe some people were drawn to taking music GCE work with Brian as tutor, it wasn't the case for me because I just loved the subject of music anyway.
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| Author: | Jon [ Tue Nov 18, 2014 1:55 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
I don't know a lot about composers/songwriters, but if I was asked to name a female songwriter, there is one name that would come to mind and I'm sure she's also probably the only female songwriter that could be named by huge numbers..... I'm going to tease you a bit though and say: Yvonne Burgess! |
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| Author: | Marian [ Wed Nov 19, 2014 8:31 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Women Composers |
How did you get to know about her, Jon? Has she written songs you had heard? I had not heard of her before your mention.
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