Juliette De Banes Gardonne
Published on November 9, 2024 at 8:44 p.m. / Modified on November 9, 2024 at 9:30 p.m.
“The names of author and composer applied to women with a masculine ending are a real insult to them.” We owe these words to the French composer and musicologist Adrien deLa Fage who, in 1847, got annoyed in The Paris Musical Revue and Gazette that we can still speak of “women composers.” Convinced that the use of the feminine form of a professional activity establishes its legitimacy, it was nevertheless necessary to wait until 1935 for “composer” to be included in the prestigious Academy dictionary.
Far from being anecdotal, this stubborn refusal of the feminization of certain words testifies to a denial of creation: a woman can be a performer but she must not create. However, Cécile Chaminade (1857-1947), Augusta Holmès (1847-1903), Mel Bonis (1858-1937) all three French composers are today rediscovered and presented as major figures in the musical history of the 20th century.
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