Women and Violin Performance in Eighteenth-Century Europe

Transgressive Gestures: Women and Violin Performance in Eighteenth-Century Europe Hester Bell Jordan A thesis submitted to Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Musicology New Zealand School of Music 2016 i © Copyright by Hester Bell Jordan All rights reserved April 2016 ii Abstract Studies concerning eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century women musicians abound within recent musicological scholarship, but the focus on singers and keyboard players – whose musical activities are understood to have “affirmed” their femininity – has had the effect of obscuring players of less typical instruments. Violin-playing, frequently cast as a man’s activity and imbued with indecent associations, was a case in point. Yet despite the connotations of the instrument, a small but significant group of women did play the violin: it is these violinists that this thesis takes as its central focus. Looking first at the complex reasons behind objections to women’s violin performance, a number of factors that restricted women’s access to the violin – including the influence of the male gaze and limits placed on women’s physical movement – are revealed. Particular conditions nevertheless enabled certain women to play the violin, namely the personal, educational, and economic support available from diverse sources such as family members, patrons, and institutions like convents and the Venetian ospedali. In addition to placing women violinists in their historical context, this thesis centres on an analysis of a violin concerto by one of the most well-known female violinists of the era, the Italian virtuoso Regina Strinasacchi. The analysis of Strinasacchi’s Violin Concerto in B flat major is strongly performance based and focuses on the issue of gender and physical movement (performance gesture), topics which were of much interest to eighteenth-century commentators who witnessed women violinists performing. As such the analysis engages with concepts from “embodied” musicology. In exploring Strinasacchi’s concerto we see that female violinists could experiment with a variety of gendered roles through violin performance, embodying both masculinity and femininity through their transgressive gestures. By taking a closer look at women’s violin performance and experiences, this thesis aims to show that these violinists were not as peripheral to the workings of the wider musical community as is sometimes implied. Furthermore, it aims to put women violinists more firmly at the centre of their own stories, challenging the tendency to treat female violinists as novel anomalies. iii Acknowledgements There are many people to thank for bringing this thesis to fruition. Firstly my supervisor, Dr Inge van Rij, for her constant support, encouragement, and thoughtful feedback throughout the researching and writing process. Also my secondary supervisor, Prof. Peter Walls for generously allowing me to borrow a Classical-era violin on which to explore eighteenth-century modes of playing, for giving me lessons on eighteenth-century technique, and for challenging me to always look at my writing with a critical eye. I would like to thank my examiners, Erin Helyard and Samantha Owens, for their thoughtful and in depth feedback on this thesis which has helped to make it a richer piece of research and a strong piece of writing. To my parents, for helping me to get where I am today through love and support of many kinds. Mum – thank you for always wanting to hear about my latest discoveries, and for proofreading. And Dad – thank you for your sage advice, reassurance, and encouraging feedback on drafts. Thanks also to the British Library for both providing scanned facsimile copies of the manuscript parts of Strinasacchi’s concerto, and for allowing me to produce a score from those parts for inclusion in this thesis. To my fellow Masters students (Lynne and Nell in particular) for helping to create an enjoyable, supportive, and stimulating environment, and always being keen for hot chocolate breaks. And finally to Myren, for patiently listening to me think out loud, helping me solve all the technology problems I encountered at the drop of a hat, and spurring me on through difficult patches. iv Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv List of Illustrations vii List of Musical Examples viii Introduction 1 1. “The ear was more gratified than the eye”: Problems Surrounding Women and the Violin 7 Performing, Displaying, and the Male Gaze 7 Class and Gender Associations of the Violin and Its Repertoires 13 Idealisation of Stillness in Women Musical’s Performance 16 Physical Movement and the Violin 20 2. “Much delicacy of finger”: Conditions which Enabled (Some) Women to Play the Violin 23 Familial Support and Access to Education 24 Patronage and Employment 27 Emulating Men 30 Convents and the Venetian ospedali 35 3. Gender and Gesture in Late Eighteenth-Century Women’s Violin Performance: Regina Strinasacchi’s Violin Concerto in B flat major 43 Analytical Frameworks Gender and Gesture 47 Musical Features for Analysis 50 Virtuosity 51 Topics 53 Structure 54 Soloist/Orchestra Interaction 56 Analysis of Strinasacchi’s Concerto I. Allegro Moderato 57 II. Adagio 68 III. Rondo Affectuoso 75 v Conclusion 87 Bibliography 91 Appendix A: List of eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century female violinists 101 Appendix B: Edited Score of Regina Strinasacchi’s Violin Concerto in B flat major Notes on the Edition 104 Score 107 vi List of Illustrations Figure 1. Hauk, Silhouette of Regina Strinasacchi, 1795 (Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Schloss Tiefurt, Weimar) i Figure 2. Josepha Marti-Zbinden, early nineteenth century (in François de Capitani and Gerhard Aeschbacher, Musik in Bern: Musik, Musiker, Musikerinnen und Publikum in der Stadt Bern vom Mittelalter bis heute (Bern: Historischer Vereins des Kantons Bern, 1993), 182.) 33 Figure 3. Giovanni Grevenbroch, Orfane filarmoniche, 1754 (in Gli abiti de Veneziani di quasi ogni età, Biblioteca Correr, Venice) 37 vii List of Musical Examples I. Allegro Moderato Example 1.1 Exposition 60 Example 1.2 Recapitulation 61 Example 1.3 Vertiginous leaps 65 Example 1.4 Vulgar grand cadence 1 66 Example 1.5 Vulgar grand cadence 2 66 II. Adagio Example 2.1 Adagio introduction 70 Example 2.2 Zefiro topic 71 Example 2.3 Vocal-influenced melody 74 III. Rondo Affectuoso Example 3.1 Refrain 79 Example 3.2 Minore section opening 81 Example 3.3 End of minore section 82 Example 3.4 High points of the Rondo 83 viii Introduction The silhouette reproduced on the title page of this thesis contains a number of curious details, details which cause the viewer to take a second look. A bow on the back of the dress and lace at the cuffs; a music stand with an almost discernible score; and, most striking of all, a woman playing a violin. What makes this image all the more intriguing is that we cannot see her face – the figure is literally a shadow, providing only a vague impression of the person at its centre. The silhouette, made in 1795 and very rare in terms of its subject matter, is of Regina Strinasacchi (1761-1839), an Italian-born and internationally renowned eighteenth-century violinist.1 Strinasacchi’s silhouette aptly captures the ambiguity and misinformation surrounding women violinists from this era: the fact that they were neglected by histories of music for much of the twentieth century has meant there often remain only tantalising traces of who many of these women were. In this thesis, I have endeavoured to imagine these sometimes indefinite figures as flesh and blood, with a particular focus on considering these female violinists as people who worked within and as a part of society. Since the introduction of feminism to musicology in the 1990s, women’s participation in musical activities, particularly in eighteenth-century Europe, has become an area of much scholarly interest. Most research on this period has concentrated on performers and composers of particular types, namely the numerous singers and keyboard players, and women who wrote for these instruments. This is not surprising, as singing and keyboard playing were musical activities in which the majority of female musicians engaged, and were activities marked as distinctly “feminine” during this period (and indeed later).2 The focus on traditionally feminine musical activities has nevertheless had the effect of obscuring the stories of women who played instruments, like the violin, that were considered problematic for their gender.3 Despite the 1 Hauk, Silhouette of Regina Strinasacchi, 1795, ink on porcelain, Klassik Stiftung Weimar, Schloss Tiefurt, Weimar. Reproduced from Volker Timmermann, “Strinasacchi, Regina,” Sophie Drinker Institut, accessed 8 July 2014, http://www.sophie-drinker-institut.de/cmsms/index.php?page=strinasacchi-regina. 2 Richard D. Leppert, Music and Image: Domesticity, Ideology, and Socio-Cultural Formation in Eighteenth-Century England (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 147; Lucy Green, Music, Gender, Education (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 32-33, 59. 3 Rita Steblin, “The Gender Stereotyping of Musical Instruments in the Western Tradition,” Canadian University Music Review 16, no. 1 (1995): 132-133. 1 disapproval expressed in conservative sectors, such as feminine conduct literature, a small but significant number of women did play such “unseemly” instruments. In fact, women violinists turn up at a surprising number of key moments in the history of

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