Musical multiplicities: The lives and reception of four post-Romantic women

Abstract

Many musical women were active during the Romantic and Post-Romantic eras. They hailed from a variety of backgrounds, and worked in a variety of musical vocations. This thesis focuses on four of these multi-talented individuals: Teresa Carreño (1853–1917), Mel Bonis (1858–1937), Amy Beach (1867–1944), and Florence Price (1887–1953). The lives of these women, while very different from one another, had many commonalities. All experienced pressure to adhere to societal gender norms, endured stigmas related to women as professionals in the field of music, and—in two cases—racial identity. Despite these obstacles, Carreño, Bonis, Beach, and Price each created her own lasting legacy through composition, publication, and performance, and there has been an increased awareness of their compositions in the twenty-first century. Composition, however, was but one part of these women’s multiplicity of musical careers, which also included performance, teaching, and leadership roles in professional music societies. In many cases, these women did this while balancing responsibilities in the home. This thesis will offer analyses of how musical multiplicities are central to understanding the lives and careers of these musical women.