female composers

[thundercrack]

hi fans,
big question. why are there no famous female classical music composers? brahms,bach,beethoven etc. is it because women haven't got the time to sit over a piano drunk for three weeks, or is it because their brains are different to men?
thanks, alf.

[littleoldme]

is it because women haven't got the time to sit over a piano drunk for three weeks

Ooh, get you. ;-) There have actually been a fair few female composers over the years, arguably the best known being Clara Schumann (1819-1896), wife of fellow composer Robert, and 12th century abbess Hildegarde of Bingen. Several well-known male composers had composing wives (Alma Mahler, or the aforementioned Clara Schumann), sisters (Maria Anna Mozart, Fanny Mendelssohn) or daughters (Imogen Holst). I guess their comparative lack of fame is purely down to the rather chauvinistic societies in which they lived - art, literature and music being seen as something men did.

Good old wikipedia, as usual, has a lot more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_female_co mposers

[thundercrack]

thanks little old me. if this is the case, has anybody heard any music by a female composer played on radio 3 lately, or ever?
thanks, alf.

[Mih]

Aren't women only good for facials.

[Goodsoulette]

I genuinely believe that "back then" there may have been many brilliant female composers that just had their work taken by men.