Women's Writes: A History of Women Composers

So many of the composers we usually learn about in school are men -- but that's only telling half the story of who writes the music we love.

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National Standards Incorporated:

Analyzing the elements of music (including form) of musical works, relating them to style, mood, and context, and describe how the analysis provides models for personal growth as composer, performer, and/or listener

Understanding the relationships between music and the other arts, other disciplines, varied contexts, and daily life

Understanding how music is informed by the structure, the use of musical elements, and context (such as social and cultural)

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Additional resources:

The Story of Music (BBC)

History of Women in Music

The Birth of Jazz

Scat Singing Explained and Example

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Featured music:

Felix Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 61, Incidental Music, No. 9 Wedding March (Boston Symphony, Seiji Ozawa)

Fanny Mendelssohn: String Quarter in E-Flat Major: IV. Allegro molto vivace (Quatuor Ebene)

Igor Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (Chicago Symphony)

Ethel Smythe: The March of Women (Chorus and Orchestra of the Plymouth Music Series, Philip Brunelle)

Duke Ellington: Cottontail

Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington: Cottontail

Pete Seeger: Freight Train

Elizabeth Cotten: Freight Train

The Chicks: March, March

Beyonce: Brown Skin Girl

Annie Lennox & Aretha Franklin: Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves

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