Alma is Awesome

Alma Mahler might be one of the most fascinating women of the late romantic period. She started off writing music at a very young age, before her teens, and wrote some very intelligent music. Her artistically inclined father encourage this, which was very uncommon for these times. The other composers we read about were encourage to learn music, but not like Alma's father it seems. After such an influence it is hard to understand why she gave up music-making so easily when she married Gustav. Although, who knows what kind of a fight she put up when he told her not to compose anymore. Something that interested me after reading the snippet about her in the chapter was the father figure reference to Gustav. Gustav was considerably older than she was, and was a very dominant figure in the relationship(well before the cheating ensued). This is basically an example of the Oedipus complex for a woman. She wanted to marry a man that was very much like a man that was so critical to her love for artistry and culture. Although her track record for keeping a man was not the best in the world. She had three husbands, and who knows how many lovers: one of them being a prominent artist Oscar Kokoschka. Overall, her actions mirrored those of a man, and her charm and personality was so seductive it led Gustav to relinquish his hold over her compositional abilities. Any woman who can become a successful composer in this time period with the way she acted is a very special woman indeed.

Nun vs. Courtesan

This post lists the pros and cons of being a nun and a courtesan during the Renaissance period. Being a nun would be very sheltering in that one would live in a convent with many rules to follow. Nuns had a certain dress code to abide by at all times, they were not allowed to leave the walls of the convent, and everything they did was to serve a purpose that furthered their relationship with God. The only education they received was for sacred purposes. However, they did receive some education. They were allowed to sing, even if they weren't allowed to be seen. They had the knowledge to notate music in manuscripts, which requires a lot of musical literacy. They did not have to worry about disease, childbirth, or any other illness or societal pressure that went along with living out in the real world.

Courtesans lived a very different life. They were educated in many different ways so that they were smart enough to very charming around the noblemen they entertained. They knew about many different current events of the time because of the company they kept, and also had access to many different social events these men's wives didn't have access to. They had musical training, and were often musicians and/or poets. There was a certain freedom to this lifestyle that came with some consequences. Courtesans were more susceptible to STDs and becoming pregnant, and childbirth was not the safest thing at that time. Also, becoming an old courtesan if no one wanted to marry you was not the most glamorous lifestyle. We can see that there are pros and cons to both sides, and making a decision to become one of the these women would not be a very easy decision.

Post for Week of Feb 1

I know this is very late, but here goes. I wanted to discuss the irony and double standards of the role of women in society to ca. 1450. There were many double standards when it came to men in society as a whole, not in just the musical world. The music, esp. poetry, found by the women of this era summarizes the idea that women want more a voice in all aspects of society. Women had no voice if they were uneducated, and it was even known that women should not be educated. That was the man's job, and women who were educated were looked down upon in society. Some of the most musically educated women in more than one culture were courtesans, another name for high-end prostitutes. They never got married, and were only paid to entertain men with their wit and charm, among other things.

We see this kind of double standard in religion as well. Some of the most educated women were nuns. If a woman wasn’t married off by the time she reached the end of her teenage years, she was either sent to the convent, or chose to go there. These women were very involved in music, and actually literate enough to notate music. One thing I found extremely ironic was the idea of why women joined Christianity in its early stages. I don’t understand how women keeping their virginity until marriage changed the role of wife and mother. Women would only be able to have children after they married, which is the traditional role of a wife, isn’t it? Feel free to comment and explain what I am missing here. That role they were trying to redefine just became reinforced by the new Christianity ideals.