Over the past few decades, women have gained warranted recognition within their respective fields. Female composers are no exception. Constantly operating within a man’s world, they offer a unique perspective within the Western Classical Music canon. Yet their music is technically indistinguishable from their male counterparts. This class attempts to reconcile these conflicting facts by recognizing the hardships that female composers underwent while simply using their compositions as examples of various stylistic periods, as would a typical music history class with the “Bach through Brahms” curriculum.

This course acts as a survey of the lives and music of composers in the Pre-Baroque, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Modern Periods. Major innovators to be studied in depth include Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth, and Undine Moore.

Through lectures and guided listening of pieces, students will learn class material. During class time, students will participate in group discussions to build connections between class material and any prior knowledge of music theory and history, as well as to allow space for sharing personal thoughts regarding the music. After lectures, students will be expected to demonstrate understanding of class material through assignments. Lectures will be taught in-person.

In-person attendance is preferred for the sake of an enriching listening environment. This course does not have any exams, but there will be a final project which can either be done individually or in a group.