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Book Review
Apr. 11th, 2021 08:40 amGender and the Musical Canon
by Marcia J. Citron
This classic of feminist musicology discusses how and why canons are formed, what functions they serve, and how all of this has excluded women from the standard canon of western art music. Citron shows that canons are not neutral entities based solely on quality or merit. Instead, they reflect various social values and practices, including the perception of creativity, professionalism and the representation of gender in music. Citron examines not only the ways women were excluded from music education and professional activities, but also how their socialization of women in a patriarchal society affected their view of themselves as composers and musicians.
I very much enjoyed this book. It illuminates the issues around who and what gets included in a canon and delves into how that reflects cultural values and agendas in a way that really resonated with me. Citron's discussion of canon formation and function was very eye-opening to read in a time when musical canons are being re-evaluated on the basis of race as well as gender. My one caveat is that Citron takes a very binary approach to gender, but that is likely due to her writing this in the early 1990s and to writing primarily about pre-war Europe.
by Marcia J. Citron
This classic of feminist musicology discusses how and why canons are formed, what functions they serve, and how all of this has excluded women from the standard canon of western art music. Citron shows that canons are not neutral entities based solely on quality or merit. Instead, they reflect various social values and practices, including the perception of creativity, professionalism and the representation of gender in music. Citron examines not only the ways women were excluded from music education and professional activities, but also how their socialization of women in a patriarchal society affected their view of themselves as composers and musicians.
I very much enjoyed this book. It illuminates the issues around who and what gets included in a canon and delves into how that reflects cultural values and agendas in a way that really resonated with me. Citron's discussion of canon formation and function was very eye-opening to read in a time when musical canons are being re-evaluated on the basis of race as well as gender. My one caveat is that Citron takes a very binary approach to gender, but that is likely due to her writing this in the early 1990s and to writing primarily about pre-war Europe.
