Women's History Month - Women Composers

Women’s History Month officially came to a close yesterday.  As many of you may have seen, I posted on my Facebook page, Life! Love! Song!  A Visit with Gena Branscombe, a short biography and photo of thirty different women composers of Gena’s era (1881-1977).  On International Women’s Day I posted a photo and biographical information on Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana who in 1916 voted for equal voting rights for women in all states.  To honor all thirty-one women during March was a learning experience and an eye-opener for their accomplishments.

What struck me as I did my research was that 23 of these women attended college including Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Leipzig Conservatory, Paris Conservatory, Royal Academy of Music, Royal Conservatory of Music, Peabody, Columbia, New York University and other schools.  These same women studied with the great composition teachers of the time whether here in the United States or in Europe: George Chadwick, Nadia Boulanger, Dallapiccola, Leo Sowerby, Irving Fine, Carl Renecki and Theodor Leschetizky. 

Undine Smith, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Louise Talma, Marion Bauer, Miriam Gideon, Mary Carr Moore, Mabel Daniels, Julia Amanda Perry, Helen Hopekirk, Eva Jessye, and Clara Kathleen Rogers taught at some of our most prestigious music schools mentioned above.  

Major symphony orchestras played the works of Margaret Ruthven Lang, Florence Price, Margaret Bonds, Gena Branscombe and Amy Beach.

Mary Howe and Liza Lehmann openly admitted that women composers were not given their just recognition or performance opportunities.  Miriam Gideon said she liked the English word "composer" as it had no gender identification.  Eight of the women featured in March were published by the premiere music publisher of the day, Arthur P. Schmidt of Boston.  Carrie Jacobs Bond was not only a composer but also a business woman who created her own publishing firm!

Despite the naysayers of women composers and their compositions, the featured composers for Women's History Month all forged a path for themselves, their colleagues and today's women composers.  They were highly educated, industrious women.  Creativity, rich harmonic music, melody and beautiful poetry combined to pour forth in their choral works, piano concerti, art songs, solo piano pieces, chamber music, operas, oratorios and symphonies.

Ladies, you are my inspiration for you set your goals, struggled, worked hard, lived your life through pain, rejection, highs and lows, and most of all you gifted the world your music for ages to come.  Thank you.  

Mary Carr Moore

Mary Carr Moore (1873-1957)

One of the common traits among the women composers I have already posted and ones to come in the upcoming weeks is their ability to multi-task within their musical ability.  In addition, nearly all these composers’ talent was recognized when they were quite young!

Mary Carr Moore was a composer, conductor, singer and music educator which made her a working musician of her day. 

Born in Tennessee, she lived with her family for ten years in Louisville, Kentucky before they relocated to the West Coast.  California became her home base for the remainder of her life. 

In San Francisco Miss Moore began composition lesson with J. H. Pratt and voice lessons with H. B. Pasmore.  At age 16 she began teaching and composing.  That same year her first published song was released for sale.  Having composed her first operetta, “The Oracle,” she performed the lead at the premiere of the work!  Eventually Mary Carr Moore gave up singing to devote her time to composing and teaching. 

Her operetta was only the first of her stage works.  In Seattle, she composed a four-act opera titled, “Narcissa” about the attack on the mission of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman in Walla Walla, Washington in 1847.  Singers were brought in from New York City to perform leading roles and Miss Moore conducted the premiere since no other conductor was available.  She continued to promote opera in Seattle for the remainder of her life. 

Her two-act grand opera “David Rizzio” was commissioned for production in Venice.  This was the only libretto in Italian she set in her lifetime.  Though the performance in Venice did not evolve, an amateur group in Los Angeles premiered the work. 

From 1926 to her death, she resided in Los Angeles where she taught at Chapman College and the Olga Steeb Piano School.  Miss Moore promoted American Music organizing the American Music Center in Seattle and mentoring composers for performances of their music.

Mary Carr Moore’s musical style would best be described as conservative.  Holding to the Romantic era’s harmonies and tonalities with beautiful melodies, she also ventured into whole tone scales used in the Impressionistic period. 

Gena Branscombe and Mary Carr Moore were colleagues through their membership in the music section of the National League of American Pen Women!