LibGuides: Diversity in Classical Music: Women

Explore Repertoire

Women Composers

Here are just a few of many women composers. Click to see a list of their music in our library.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729)
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel (1805-1847)
Clara Schumann (1819-1896)
Amy Beach (1867-1944)
Florence Price (1887-1953)
Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901-1953)

Sofia Gubaidulina (b. 1931)
Joan Tower (b. 1938)
Meredith Monk (b. 1942)
Tania León (b. 1943)
Libby Larsen (b. 1950)
Chen Yi (b. 1953)
Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962)

Discover More Composers

Use the resources below to discover other women composers. Then, search their name in our catalog to find their music in the library.

If we don't own a piece you want, search for it in WorldCat and click "ILL this with ILLiad" to borrow a copy from another library. Or, contact Tracey Rudnick (rudnick@hartford.edu, 860.768.4404) to suggest we buy a copy.

Repertoire Guides Online

Various Instrumentation

Boulanger Initiative Database
Over 8,000 works by women and gender-marginalized composers.
The Composers Equity Project
List of women, gender non-conforming, and ALAANA composers.
Institute for Composer Diversity
Research resources plus databases of composers and works searchable by genre, ensemble, and composers' demographic information.
Music Theory Examples by Women
Database of music by women composers, categorized by theoretical concept. The examples, either excerpts or full works, include the score and a recording.
Women Composers Collection
Over 3000 digitized scores by women composers, mostly from the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Specific Instruments/Groups

Catalog of Trumpet Works by Gender-Marginalized People and/or Black, Indigenous, or Persons of Color
An extensive list of works for trumpet solo and in ensemble. Use the tabs at the top to navigate between different sections.
Clarinet Repertoire
Works by women and gender-marginalized composers.
Music for Clarinet by Women Composers
A list of works ranging from unaccompanied clarinet to large ensemble works.
No Broken Links
Solo and chamber repertoire for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, and horn. Focuses on work by BIPOC, women, transgender, & gender non-conforming individuals.
Percussion Solo & Ensemble Works by Women-Identifying Composers
An open document of percussion solo and ensemble works.
A Seat at the Piano
Piano works from over 200 composers of diverse backgrounds and identities. Searchable by nationality and other keywords.
Trombone Compositions by Women Composers
A list of composers, works, and instrumentation.
Underrepresented Composer Database (Viola)
Over 1500 solo and chamber works for viola by underrepresented composers. Also accepts submissions for new works to add.
Wind Repertory Project
A comprehensive database of wind literature. Browse by solo instrument, ensemble, or composer category.
Women's Song Database
A database of almost 25,000 songs published by over 5,000 women from 1890 to 1930. Click the links on right side of page to download the files.
Works with Horn by Female Composers
Almost 2,000 solo and chamber music pieces with horn (original works, up to 12 instruments) by female composers from around the world.

Repertoire Guides in the Library

Contemporary Concert Music by Women by Judith L. Zaimont, Karen Famera
Call Number: ML128 W8 Z [Allen reference]
Publication Date: 1981
A primary reference volume on 72 contemporary women composers. Includes biographies and work listings.
A Guide to Piano Music by Women Composers by Pamela Youngdahl Dees
Call Number: ML128 P5 D44 [Allen reference]
Publication Date: 2002
A practical guide to piano music composed by 144 women born before the 20th century. The music is described by genre, mood, style, technical requirements, and difficulty.
Music by Black Women Composers by Helen Walker-Hill
Call Number: ML128 W8 W35 [Allen reference]
Publication Date: 1995
Listing of works, arranged by type of instrument and size of ensemble. Full text available in print or via Google Books.
Say Can You Deny Me by Barbara Garvey Jackson
Call Number: ML128 W8 J [Allen reference]
Publication Date: 1994
Lists the locations of the printed and manuscript sources of Renaissance, baroque, classic, and some early romantic women composers.
So You Want to Sing Music by Women by Matthew Hoch; Linda Lister
Call Number: MT820 S696 W8 H635 2019 [Allen shelves]
Opens a vast repertoire of vocal music written by hundreds of historical and contemporary women composers. Includes interviews with high-profile composers.

Research

Books (selections)

In Her Own Words by Jennifer Kelly
Call Number: ML390 K45 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 2013
Interviews with 25 accomplished female U.S. composers from the mid-20th century into the 21st, opening new perspectives on the prospects and possibilities of making music in a changing world.
Women in Music by Karin Pendle; Melinda Boyd
Call Number: ML128 W8 P39 2010 [Allen reference]
Annotated bibliography covering the variety of published writings on women, their work, and the important roles feminist outlooks have played in scholarship and journalism.
Women Performing Music by Beth Abelson Macleod
Call Number: ML82 M33 W65 [Allen shelves]
Publication Date: 2000
Explores the experiences of women from the late 19th and early 20th centuries who pursued careers as public performers, charting a new course for women in this era.

Find more books about women in music

Click to see the newest women's studies books in the Allen Library

Search subjects in the catalog:
Feminism and music
Gender identity in music
Music by women composers > Analysis, appreciation
Music by women composers > History and criticism
Sex role in music
Women composers
Women music patrons
Women musicians

...or search specific names, for example:
Marian Anderson
Amy Beach
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Hildegard of Bingen
Florence Price
Clara Schumann
Ruth Crawford Seeger

Music Reference Databases

A Distaff Brass Band Bibliography
List of 271 books, articles, and more related to female brass players and their ensembles. Selected from the larger Brass Band Bibliography.

Grove/Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
Music encyclopedia with works lists and citations. Search a particular person's name or terms such as "women." See especially entries on Women in Music or Women in American Music
Oxford Bibliographies - Music This link opens in a new window
Citation lists on many music subjects and people. See especially entries on Women in Music or Gender and Sexuality in Music.

Journals (selections)

Search articles online or browse the Allen Library current periodicals (near the Allen entrance).
See especially:

GEMS (Gender, Education, Music, and Society) by Gender Research in Music Education (GRIME)
An open-access online journal.
Women & Music
Current issues available online only.

Find more articles about women in music

Search one of the following databases for specific names, work titles, or keywords such as women, feminism, sexism, gender, etc.

Music Index Online This link opens in a new window
Article citations from over 700 music journals.
Music Periodicals Database This link opens in a new window
Article citations from over 400 music journals.
RILM This link opens in a new window
Citations for scholarly music and dance books, articles, dissertations, and more.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Full-text articles from almost 100 scholarly music, dance, and theatre journals, plus other subjects. Excludes recent years.

Support an Organization

Organizations

Alliance for Women Film Composers
Supports and celebrates the work of women composers in film, TV, video games, and multimedia projects.
ANNA Crusis Feminist Choir
The longest-running feminist women’s choir in the U.S., committed to musical excellence and promoting social change.
Donne
A charitable foundation fighting gender inequality in the music industry worldwide.
International Alliance for Women in Music
Advocates for women in music around the globe and promotes their music through concerts, competitions, conferences, and grants.
Project Spectrum
A graduate student-led coalition committed to increasing DEIA in music theory, musicology, and ethnomusicology.
Women in Music
Advancing equality, visibility, and opportunities for women in music through education, support, empowerment, and recognition.