Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2003 Women in Music: The Experiences of Bassoonists Nancy Goeres, Judith Leclair, Isabella Plaster, and Jane Taylor Kimberly A. Woolly Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MUSIC WOMEN IN MUSIC: THE EXPERIENCES OF BASSOONISTS NANCY GOERES, JUDITH LECLAIR, ISABELLE PLASTER, AND JANE TAYLOR By KIMBERLY A. WOOLLY A Tre tise submitted to the School of Music in parti l fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Music De0ree A1 rded: Spring Semester, 2003 The members of the Committee approve the tre tise of Kimberly A. Woolly6s defended on M rch 25, 2003. _________________________ Jeff Keesecker Professor Directing Tre tise _________________________ J mes Croft Outside Committee Member _________________________ N ncy Fowler Committee Member _________________________ Fr nk Kow ls9y Committee Member The Office of Gr duate Studies has verified nd a.proved the above named committee members. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I m deeply 0r teful to N ncy Goeres, Judith LeCl ir, Is belle Pl ster, and J ne T ylor for llowing me to question them on m tters that are so personal. Their words are the he rt of this project. Thank you to Florida St te University, COGS, the Provost6s Office, nd the Office of Rese rch for the Dissert tion Rese rch Gr nt of $500, which enabled me to tr vel to Ne1 York nd Boston to complete these intervie1s. My most sincere 0r titude 0oes to the members of my committee for believin0 that I could do it. Speci l thanks goes to Jeff Keesec9er for all of his help and assist nce, nd most of all, his patience. Fin lly, I must thank my 0r ndmother for the computer, and the rest of my f mily for not givin0 up on me. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstr ct <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<5 1. WOMEN INSTRUMENTALISTS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICA ……..1 2. INTERVIEW SUMMARY <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<23 3. INTERVIEW WITH NANCY GOERES: MAY 5, 2000 <<<<<<<<2> Biogr phy: N ncy Goeres <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<2> Text of Intervie1 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<2@ 4. INTERVIEW WITH JUDITH LECLAIR: APRIL 19, 2000 <<<<<<<<AA Biogr phy: Judith LeCl ir <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<AA Text of Intervie1 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<A7 5. INTERVIEW WITH ISABELLE PLASTER: APRIL 2, 2000 <<<<<<<<7@ Biogr phy: Is belle Pl ster <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<7@ Text of Intervie1 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<7@ 6. INTERVIEW WITH JANE TAYLOR: APRIL 18, 2000 <<<<<<<<@2 Biogr phy: J ne T ylor <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<@2 Text of Intervie1 <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<@4 APPENDIX <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<=24 BIBLIOGRAPHY <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<=2B BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<=2@ iv ABSTRACT Women have partici. ted in music m king for centuries, but it has only been since the l tter part of the t1entieth century that women have been widely accepted into the aren of public perform nce. With fe1 exceptions, nineteenthCcentury 1omen were to perform only in the home with sm ll g therings of friends and f mily. Conductors and m le musici ns felt that fem le musici ns were unsuited both physic lly and technic lly for the orchestr . The most commonly ccepted instruments a wom n could pl y were the pi no, harp, and strin0 instruments. Wind instruments were deemed too difficult and unsi0htly for women to pl y, p rticul rly the l r0er instruments that were 191 rd to hold or took l rge amounts of air to pl y. Society of the period perceived the bassoon as one of these instruments. In the present d y, through their successes in their respective positions, N ncy Goeres, Judith LeCl ir, Is belle Pl ster, and J ne T ylor have become prominent in the bassoon-pl yin0 1orld. They describe, in their words, the journey they took to get where they re. By re din0 their stories it is possible to see how the roles of 1omen in music have ch nged since the nineteenth century. v CHAPTER 1 WOMEN INSTRUMENTALISTS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICA In the nineteenth century, a wom n’s role in instrument l music w s almost exclusively limited to a soci l or f mily context. For the most part, attitudes of the day precluded even serious fem le musici ns from tre ting perform nce as more than an voc tion. At the turn of the century, however, 1omen’s roles moved from the domestic to the public sphere. This emer0ence w s evident in the suffr 0ists6 fi0ht for politic l ri0hts, and the colle0e educ ted “ne1 womenE who postponed or avoided m rri 0e ltogether to forge c reers for themselves and to pl y le din0 roles as soci l scientists and reformers.1 Developments for women in music followed simil r patterns as performers moved from their homes to the concert h ll. The accom.lishments of m ny women musici ns are not widely known due to the l ck of ccept nce by the 0ener l public. In music, s in other professions, success w s sh ped and defined by 0ender expect tions. For most of the nineteenth and t1entieth centuries, women instrument lists could succeed as public performers only on cert in music l instruments, and they were not likely to be accepted in most symphony orchestr s.2 Though music pro0r ms incre sed r pidly in the public schools after 1900, 1omen r rely achieved prominence as 1 Beth Abelson M cleod, DWhence Comes the L dy Tym. nistF Gender nd Instrument l Musici ns in Americ , 1873C1990,E Journ l of Soci l History 27:2 (Winter 1993I: 291. 2 Ibid. 1 instrument l music te chers throu0h the first half of the century.3 The 0ender expect tions that defined and limited women’s music l partici. tion at the turn of the t1entieth century were, for the most part, still in pl ce even as l te s the 1980s.A At the turn of the t1entyCfirst century, there is an incre sing number of women in firstCr nk orchestr s, lthough men still outnumber women t1o to one.7 Perhaps the 0re test obst cle women f ced to becoming professional musici ns 1 s the Victori n belief that it w s not appropri te for a wom n to perform in public.6 DBefore the turn of the [t1entieth] century it w s sc rcely considered proper for 1omen to t ke their pl ces beside men in our orchestr s. In f ct, public perform nce by women had the s me sli0htly indecorous fl vor as women appe rin0 in polling pl ces, or t kin0 long trips alone, or tr ns cting business with men.E7 In the mid-nineteenth century, 0irls 1ere t u0ht music much s they 1ere t u0ht embroidery or French. Music 1 s considered necess ry soci l gr ce for the proper youn0 wom n. Instruments that were deemed accept ble for 0irls to pl y were those th t could be pl yed in a Ddemure se ted position,” such as the harp and keyboard instruments. As l te as 1874, the violin, flute, nd or0 n were still unsuit ble for 0irls bec use they require an “un0 inly posture.”8 “It 1 s import nt that women al1 ys appe r delic te nd decor tiveL to appe r other1ise by pl yin0 a m ssive or ‘ 191 rd’ instrument ch llenged ccepted notions of 1hat w s 3 Ibid. A Ibid. 7 Christine Ammer, Unsun0: A History of Women in Americ n Music (Portl nd, Ore0on: Am deus Press, 2001I, 9. 6 Ibid., 118. 7 Ho.e Stodd rd, DWomen6s Activities in the Field of Music,E Intern tion l Musici n A6:12 (June 19A8I: 2A. 8 Ammer, 33. 2 ppropri tely fem le.E9 Other attitudes tow rds the partici. tion of women in the arts, in 0ener l, were that “1omen are biolo0ic lly not ad pt ble and, bec use of their physic l inferiority [theyK rem in, lmost invari bly, children their entire lives. They re usually l cking in the fundament l rhythmic l impulse, m them tics, and those nalytic l qualities that are essenti l to the nobility of conception in cre tive and recre tive art.E10 It 1 s a popul r sentiment among conductors in the e rly t1entieth century that “1omen c nnot be de.ended upon for rehe rsin0 and the hard work dem nded of musici ns. Wom n, lovely wom n, is al1 ys to be admired except when she is pl yin0 in an orchestr . She is cert inly not in her o1n sphere, nd ny le der will find this out after he has had a fe1 quarrels nd inst nces of feminine dis 0reements. H rpists are the only feminine musici ns that are of ny re l value to an orchestr .E11 The fe r of an unple s nt workin0 environment w s perh ps the c use of the belief that Dmost women do not have the constitutional fortitude to withst nd severe criticism from a conductor.”12 DIt 1ould be like tryin0 to mix oil and w ter to put men and women in the s me or0 niN tion. Women musici ns alone m y be ll ri0ht, but they don’t belong with men.”13 Sexual se0re0 tion existed within most or0 niN tions in the e rly t1entieth century. It w s felt that intermixing of the sexes c used l xity, nd w s Dthought to 9 Ibid., 292.