Les femmes invisibles : the education, careers, and compositions of French women organists, 1872-1954
French organ literature is a well-researched topic, and the French organist-composer of the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries represents an archetype of musical success; yet organ music composed by women has been largely absent from this history, and the lives of the women who composed this music have not been given the same level of research and consideration as their male colleagues. Through an examination of records from educational and religious institutions, the musical press, and musical scores both published and unpublished, I demonstrate that women organists and composers formed a vital but hitherto unrecognized part of French musical culture of the late-nineteenth through mid-twentieth centuries. Women were an active part of the musical institutions of Paris, including the Paris Conservatoire, the Schola Cantorum, and the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (school for the blind). Women organists were also musically active in the Roman Catholic church (not just in convents), which became an avenue for women's creative expression as they provided organ music for liturgies and paraliturgies. Furthermore, as concert artists women played an important role in creating the international renown of the French organ school, and as composers they contributed to a body of literature that defined the styles and genres of their time. This dissertation, including the catalogue of works in Appendix I, documents the presence of more than sixty composers and over six hundred pieces of music from this period. A primary goal of my research was to locate more musical scores from this time period, and my expectations to that end were far exceeded. However, my ultimate aim has always been to bring these unnecessarily obscure musical works by an underrepresented demographic into greater use
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2022
2022