Musical Women in England, 1870–1914: Encroaching on All Man’s Privileges

317 Pages·2000·7.767 MB·English

by  Paula Gillett (auth.)

Musical Women
h
in England, 1870–1914
“Encroaching on All Man’s Privileges”
Paula Gillett
Disclaimer: Some images in the printed version of this book are not
available for inclusion in the eBook.
MUSICALWOMENINENGLAND,1870–1914
Copyright © Paula Gillett,2000.All rights reserved.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-312-12156-3
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner
whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in critical articles or reviews.For information,address St.Martin’s
Press,175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010.
ISBN 978-1-349-38511-9 ISBN 978-0-312-29934-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780312299347
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gillett,Paula,1934-
Musical women in England,1870–1914:“encroaching on all man’s
privileges”/by Paula Gillett.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Women musicians—England. 2. Music—England—19th century-
-History and criticism. 3. Music—England—20th century—History
and criticism. I. Title.
ML82.G55 2000
780’.82’0942—dc21 99–42809
CIP
First edition:June,2000
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In memory of my father,
Ira R.Levy
Permissions
Figure 1.1 Photograph provided by the Library of the University of
California,Berkeley.
Figure 3.1 Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,The Univer-
sity of Texas at Austin.
Figure 4.1 Provided by the Fine Art Society,London.
Figure 4.2 Gernsheim Collection,Harry Ransom Humanities Re-
search Center,The University of Texas at Austin.
Figure 4.3 Photograph provided by the Library of the University of
California,Berkeley.
Figure 5.1 Photograph provided by the Library of the University of
California,Berkeley.Reproduced with the permission of
Punch Ltd.
Figure 7.1 Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center,The Univer-
sity of Texas at Austin.
Figure 7.2 Mary Evans Picture Library
Contents
Preface vii
Chapter One Introduction:Music and the Female Sphere 1
Chapter Two Music and “Woman’s Mission”
in Late-Victorian Philanthropy 33
Chapter Three Talents Discovered and Rewarded:
Female Recipients of Music Philanthropy 63
Chapter Four Woman and the Devil’s Instrument 77
Chapter Five The New Woman and Her Violin 109
Chapter Six Immortal Tones:Woman as Public Singer 141
Chapter Seven Music as a Profession for Women 189
Notes 228
Bibliography 287
Bibliography of Untitled Newspaper Citations 305
Index 307
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Preface
T
he goal of this book is to extend and enrich current understand-
ings both of women’s participation in late-nineteenth and early-
twentieth century English musical culture and of perceptions of
the female musician that were heatedly discussed and challenged during
that era.The major sources I have used include music journals,girls’and
women’s magazines,fictional works,and poetry.Among the publications
for girls and young women,The Girl’s Own Paper is an especially fruitful
source: its enormous popularity—close to a third of respondents to an
1888 poll of one thousand girls between the ages of eleven and nineteen
declared it to be their favorite reading1—combined with extensive cover-
age of musical subjects, in articles often written by music professionals,
earned it the enthusiastic commendation of The Musical Times.2 Among
women’s magazines,the most useful was The Lady.While its music cover-
age was often scarcely distinguishable from the fashionable gossip that
filled many of its columns, the magazine included some well-informed
musical commentary,especially during the early twentieth century,when
it provided a vehicle for the Oxford-educated Christopher St.John,whose
critical reviews were warmly praised by the best-known woman com-
poser,Ethel Smyth.3The fictional sources drawn on vary widely in liter-
ary quality, but almost all are characterized by a passionate engagement
with issues prominent in contemporary discussions of the female musician,
especially the nature of her talent and its relationship to the all-important
issue of its effects on her decisions concerning marriage and motherhood.
Writers of popular fiction are especially revealing to the social historian,as
their success depends upon the accuracy with which they are attuned to
public sentiment.4
But imaginative writers do not simply mirror that sentiment.In peri-
ods like the one that provides the focus for this book,when traditional val-
ues and practices that had long created the framework for women’s lives
were being re-examined and redefined, the contributors to imaginative
culture played a significant role in shaping opinion.By vividly portraying
viii Musical Women inEngland,1870–1914
turn-of-the-century musical women and the vocational and personal
choices open to them,writers and artists contributed in important ways to
the modes of their entrance onto the public stage and to their reception.
It is a pleasure for me to thank the institutions and organizations that
have provided assistance to this project through the years of research and
writing.San Jose State University has supported this endeavor with several
grants of released time and funding:these include a Travel Award from the
Dean’s Small Grants Program, College of Humanities and the Arts, in
1992;an award of travel funds and released time from the SJSU Affirma-
tive Action Grant Program in Spring/Summer,1994;and a Difference-in-
Pay leave for the academic year 1996–1997.In 1992 I received a National
Endowment for the Humanities Travel Grant.In 1993,I was awarded a
summer fellowship by the American Council of Learned Societies Fel-
lowship/Grant-in-Aid Program and a California State University Summer
Research Fellowship.In 1996,I spent a month at the Harry Ransom Hu-
manities Research Center, University of Texas,Austin, as an Andrew W.
Mellon Fellow. During the academic year 1996–1997, I was a Visiting
Scholar at the Institute for Research on Women and Gender at Stanford
University.
These awards made it possible for me to visit the collections of a num-
ber of libraries in the United States and Great Britain.Research was con-
ducted at the following libraries and archives in the United States: the
University of California,Berkeley;the University of California,Los Ange-
les;Stanford University;Harvard University;the Harry Ransom Humani-
ties Research Center,University of Texas,Austin;the Library of Congress;
the Beinecke Rare Book Library,Yale University;the Huntington Library;
and the New York Public Library and its Lincoln Center Performing Arts
branch.In Great Britain,I have worked in the Bodleian Library,Oxford
University;the British Library and British Newspaper Library;the Fawcett
Library;the London Library;and the Senate House Library and the library
of Queen Mary and Westfield College,University of London.I have also
consulted manuscript collections at the Royal Academy of Music and the
Royal College of Music.I am grateful for the generous assistance of staff
at these institutions and would like to give special thanks to Christopher
Bornet and Oliver Davies at the Royal College of Music and to Maria
Mitchell,Dell Hollingsworth,and Pat Fox at the Harry Ransom Human-
ities Research Center.The staff of Clark Library at San Jose State Univer-
sity has provided ongoing assistance; I would especially like to thank
Catherine E.Perez,Department Head of the Interlibrary Loan Office,and
her predecessor, Hjordis Madsen, as well as ILL Specialist Shirley G.
Miguel.My thanks also to Judy Reynolds,Library Education and Assis-
tance Program Head,for help with the complexities of database selection
Preface ix
and searching. Gail Cameron of The Museum of London and David
Doughan of The Fawcett Library responded generously to my requests for
information and materials.
Other colleagues and friends who provided various kinds of advice and
assistance are Pamela Blevins,Margaret Campbell,Ellen Lerner,Anthony
Curtis,Liane Curtis,Susan Croft,Lisl Day,Katharine Ellis,Sophie Fuller,
Lidia Haberman,Trevor Herbert,Jan Marsh,and Martha Vogeler.
Several members of the online discussion group, VICTORIA: The
Electronic Conference for Victorian Studies,hosted by Indiana Univer-
sity,Bloomington,have provided answers to my queries,and I am grate-
ful to the Group’s director and guiding spirit,Patrick Leary,for a number
of valuable suggestions and for pioneering work in shaping this new
scholarly medium.Warm thanks to William Weber for his critiques of the
developing manuscript and for sharing valuable information from his own
research on nineteenth-century music institutions.I am deeply grateful to
Sheldon Rothblatt, my dissertation adviser at Berkeley years ago and a
good friend since that time,for the formative influence of his teaching
and for his encouragement of my work.Cyril Ehrlich has been an inspir-
ing mentor whose kindness is beyond measure;I have been fortunate in-
deed to have had the benefit of his comments on the manuscript and his
numerous suggestions for improving it.Of course,errors of fact and judg-
ment in this book are fully my responsibility.
I would like to thank Kristi Long,my editor at St.Martin’s Press,for
much good advice and for her patient encouragement.Ella Pearce,Edito-
rial Assistant,has been most helpful in organizing the final stages of the
project.Members of the production staff have given valuable assistance in
the book’s final revisions;I would especially like to thank Ruth Mannes,
Production Editor,Copyeditor Karin Bolender,and Production Assistant
Meg Weaver for their commitment to this project and for their fine work.
My husband,Eric,has lived with this book—including a number of its
unanticipated side effects—since its inception.I am grateful for his unfail-
ing support of a project that has often required the postponement of other
plans and for his companionship and love over the course of many years.