Women Horn Players in the US Part II: 1946-Present by Ellie Jenkins emale players on all instruments gained considerable ac- Guatemala, Panama, Chile, Peru, and Canada as well, ceptance during World War II, as detailed in Part I of this proved themselves to be not only fully equal to the article (The Horn Call, May 2016), but with the war over, men, but to be sometimes more imaginative and al- F 3 many of the old arguments against women players reemerged. ways especially cooperative. While barriers had been eroded, they had not ceased to exist, George Foster, manager of the New Orleans Symphony, and the joy of the American public at the return of its soldiers expressed in 1949 something probably close to the truth for translated into a (sometimes voluntary) loss of orchestral jobs most orchestras of the time: “Every orchestra in the country for women musicians. The 1950s were a regressive decade for has a larger percentage of women musicians. I’d say they were working women, and orchestral players were no exception. accepted a little reluctantly at frst. But when they got in, they Several decades would pass before the number of professional did such a good job that any prejudice against women players players again reached the levels seen in the early-mid 1940s. was forgotten.”4 The Lost Generation (1946-60) Some ensembles clearly had a policy of replacing women with men as soon as possible. For example, the three large Immediately after World War II, prospects changed for radio orchestras in New York City hired women during the women in the workforce. As men returned from military war, but stopped when the men returned home. A spokesman service, women were often summarily dismissed from jobs for one was quoted, “There are so many good men available they had flled for several years. During the war their duty had now, we don’t need women.”5 been to devote themselves to the war effort, but now they were Horn player Dorothy Kaplan remained with the Columbus told to return home. The cultural message communicated that Symphony until she returned to Chicago to marry.6 Such was a woman’s primary goal ought to be marriage and children, the case for many women who were frst hired during the and nothing must interfere with keeping her husband happy. war years. Often, as with Kaplan, they left orchestra positions Women did work, but a job was seen as a kind of diversion believing they would never play again, and accepted that prior to marriage. The most common jobs for women following probability without regret. Many women put their instruments World War II were teaching, nursing, and secretarial work. away for several years, until some happy accident or series of The average age of marriage dropped – almost half of women events persuaded them to start playing again. married before age 20 – and family size increased.1 The structure of the musical world allowed women to In many ways women in orchestras were better off than the continue playing or start playing again while raising their general population. They were not necessarily forced to leave children. Freelancing gave them some control over when they their positions immediately after the war. Many conductors worked, and since their husbands were usually the primary were won over by the women they hired during the war and breadwinners, the household budget was not severely kept them on. This was more prevalent in smaller budget compromised when household or children’s needs outweighed orchestras, but nonetheless kept opportunities for women an available playing job. Nonetheless, many of the women open that otherwise would not have existed. developed substantial playing careers after choosing marriage. Conductors were clearly divided in their opinions about Dorothy Kaplan Katz eventually substituted with the Chicago female players. Sir Thomas Beecham famously expounded: Symphony, in addition to performing with many other I do not like, and never will, the association of men organizations, and became a busy teacher.7 Patricia Quinn and women in orchestras and other instrumental com- Standley continued performing with the Pittsburgh Symphony binations.… My spirit is torn all the time between a for years, sometimes as a regular, sometimes as an extra.8 natural inclination to let myself go and the depressing Statistics from the time are diffcult to interpret. For thought that I must behave like a gentleman. I have example, two articles list numbers of women in “ffteen major been unable to avoid noticing that the presence of a orchestras” in 1953, but the list of orchestras cited is different half-dozen good looking women in the orchestra is for each article. One article cites 100 female players, the other a distinctly distracting factor. As a member of the or- 120. Regardless, common wisdom held that, as related by a chestra once said to me: “If she is attractive, I can’t play woman manager, “For a woman to be chosen in auditions, I with her; if she is not, then I won’t.”2 think there is no doubt that she has to be far superior to any 9 In response, Hans Kindler jumped to the defense of female man competing.” Here are the numbers as reported: players. In October 1946 he wrote to The New York Times in 1942 31 women10 direct retort to Beecham: 1943 72 women11 1948 109 women12 The women in the orchestras I have had the plea- 1953 10013 or 120 women14 sure of conducting, not only in my own National Symphony Orchestra, but recently in Mexico City, 58 The Horn Call – February 2017 Women Horn Players in the US In November 1947 Hope Stoddard asserts that there were gains of the World War II era. Even later, in 1957, an article 155 women in eighteen major orchestras,15 a fgure she cites appeared in The Instrumentalist titled, “Should Girls Play Wind again in June 1948.16 In December 1947 Mary L. Stoltzfus and Percussion Instruments?” Though the author’s answer describes results of a Philadelphia Orchestra survey: was a solid, “Yes!” the very need for the article after mid- 21 From 18 of the country’s major symphonies, out of century is startling. The following, “Advice to Girls,” from a total of 1,513 musicians regularly employed, 210 are September 1960, which appeared as a sidebar to the article women. One orchestra has 29 women in its personnel “Observations on Female Musicians,” in Woodwind World, is and fve units carry as many as 20. One signifcant fact even more troubling: is that women are playing in all sections, including the Advice to Girls deep woodwinds, brass and percussion.17 1. If you are a clarinetist planning to marry a clarinetist, While the overall numbers for female orchestral musicians take up oboe, arranging, or composition, unless you are are confusing, the statistics for horn players after World War obviously and happily much poorer than he. II are clear. While women continued to be hired for horn 2. If you are a clarinetist marrying a tuba player, don’t positions, their numbers sharply declined. The rosters of 29 forget your frst responsibility is to the kitchen range – or he orchestras studied for this project name 30 women hired to won’t have enough strength to hold the horn. fll horn positions during the 1940s (in 13 of 29 orchestras). 3. If you are an instrumentalist marrying a “music lover” However, only six of those women remained in their posts layman, play for him on request only. Don’t take the chance of after 1950, and those same orchestras hired only ten women as running it into the ground. regular players during the entire decade of the 1950s (in 6 of 29 4. If you are marrying a layman (period), practice when orchestras).18 he is at work. Play second fddle to everything he prefers, but Women musicians during the era after World War II don’t give up completely. received mixed messages from the media. While articles 5. If you want to be happy, be a wife frst and a musician 22 appeared fairly frequently championing the woman player, second, not a sad musician frst and a poor wife second. they almost always contained references to proper dress, “Women’s Lib” and Screened Auditions decorum, and advice on what instruments were acceptable. (1960-1980) Raymond Paige wrote a very supportive article in 1952 in The Etude, in which he listed numerous advantages of a mixed “You wonder, in wool-gathering moments, whether female orchestra: lips accustomed to compressing and making sounds through wind instruments aren’t a little tougher, less pliant, than The prejudice against her is so recent that, in order those of non-wind players.”23 By the time John K. Sherman to get in at all, she needs to be just as good as, even wrote those words in 1962, the seeds of the next women’s possibly a shade better, than the average man. She movement had already been sown. In 1960 the birth control knows this, and it has an effect on her work. Also, she pill was introduced, giving women unprecedented control brings a certain innate delicacy of tone, of attack, of over their futures, and setting the stage for a decade flled approach, which improves the ensemble.… Psycho- with change for women and the United States as a whole. In logically, when men and women of equal ability play 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into together, there arises a healthy element of competition law, and the National Organization for Women (NOW) was which is absent from the all-male or the all-girl orches- created in 1966.