by Aaron I. Cohen, Johannesburg, South Africa as published in Working Papers on Women in Music: the Journal of the International Congress on Women in Music, June 1985, pp. 31-37.
Of all the questions asked of me after publication of the International Encyclopaedia of Woman Composers, apart from why I embarked upon it, two have emerged with unfailing regularity: 1 ) "How did you get started?" and 2) "How did you go about it?"
In order to start, I needed to clarify my objective, which I defined to be: finding all the women composers of classical music throughout the world. The need was clear, for there was nothing other than local attempts that had been made in the United States, Germany and Rome. My major disadvantage, however, in such a vast research area was that I was 6,000 miles away from the cultural centers of the world. To this end, therefore, I had to do a fair amount of overseas travel. In the eight years it took to compile the first edition of the Encyclopaedia, I went to eighteen countries and sat in 57 major libraries and countless minor libraries in small towns and universities. In every one of these, it was necessary to make a patient perusal, page by page, of every dictionary and item of music literature in every language. Thousands of photocopies were sent back home for translation and systematic storage. In this effort, I was assisted by a staff of nine women, who translated from fifteen languages--that is truly what made it an International Encyclopaedia! The more than 4900 names listed in the Encyclopaedia were obtained through some 436 book references; the second edition has added another 1200 names, along with 200 more book references so far, with more books still arriving. The total number of article references in the second edition is likely to exceed 500. With this a great quantity of information, it was necessary to find a way to manipulate the data in the simplest way possible.
Initially, I had to devise a simple and efficient system of data collection, storage, and retrieval. (The project began before I had a computer; yet even after obtaining that useful instrument, it took some time to devise a suitable and reasonably fool-proof program.) Two items formed the basis of the data system: 1) a composer form, and 2) a coded envelope, for keeping items relevant to that composer. As soon as a composer's name came to light, it was entered on the composer form (Figure I) and assigned a serial number. The dates of her birth and death were recorded, along with the century in which she flourished. Code numbers relating to the rest of the available information about her were entered, such as: her country, her occupation or calling, the instruments on which she performed, the music form of her compositions, the instruments for which she composed, whether she had any pseudonyms, whether she had recorded on disc, and whether a photograph was available. Al I of this information was then entered into the computer, and any part of it could be retrieved and printed out by use of the serial number only. Every subsequent name change, spelling variation, or pseudonym had its own composer form, but were linked to the original by this same serial number. The importance of this single number became increasingly obvious. For example, I found one composer who had five different names: her birth name, a pseudonym, and then her surnames subsequent to three marriages. Sometimes there were composers with as many as six or more pseudonyms. Identification, therefore, had to be related to the serial number, which, in turn, facilitated computerization of all materials.
The second basic item, a heavy quality B4 envelope was printed with spaces for the composer's name and address, birth and death dates and locations, and most importantly, the serial number assigned to her. Into this envelope was placed every bit of information about the composer--i.e., correspondence, photocopies, and any special items of note. For easy reference, seven spaces were printed on the top left-hand corner of the envelope (Figure 3) on which coloured stickers were affixed when: 1) the biography was completed; 2) the composer sent her biography; 3) there was a photograph; 4) she had a disc recording; 5) the data form in Figure I was completed; 6) she was a black composer; 7) she uses/used a pseudonym.
Eventually the envelope was emptied, the contents sorted, and the biography written for copy editing. Further coloured disc were affixed on the envelope when: a) the draft biography was written; b) the draft biography was entered into the computer; c) the final biography had been printed out; d) one or more of the composer's disc recordings was listed in my personal collection. So much for the system at the moment; I will come back to it later. Now comes the real thing--the search for the composer2.
The first references were standard music dictionaries, biographic and otherwise. These were perused, page by page, and when the name of a woman composer came up, that reference was listed, the page translated (where necessary), and it was filed in the respective composer's envelope. Then came investigation of all the editions of Who's Who in Women, plus catalogues of music in the libraries and from music publications. Naturally, I examined the general body of musical literature, i.e,. the music histories of the various countries, books about certain aspects of music, and the fast-growing output of books about women. All of these books to be read, in the hope that some pertinent item could be found--a procedure that required time and considerable patience.
An indispensible source of information was Repertoire Internationale de de Litterature Musicale, a collection of abstracts of articles and books covering all music and music literature. Other invaluable books were Music Reference and Research Material by Duckles and Music Lexicography by Coover, which listed dictionaries and bibliographies.
Information relative to the last few centuries was comparatively easy to come by, but since my research eventually encompassed some 44 centuries, the search for material become more and more complicated. Research widened to the examination of bibliographies, in order to pick up information which was completely off the beaten track. Any article in any journal or any dissertation had to be tracked down and examined, on the off-chance that some pertinent information might be found. Hundreds of books and articles yielded little except references to other books and articles. Books, three and four centuries old, were examined in archives and on the shelves of the music antiquarians. Many times it was amongst the latter that I struck gold and found the names of women who were forgotten centuries ago, or further snippets of information about those that were already listed. For example, this is how I found an ancient 9th century source which put me on the track of some sixty Arabian women songstresses who composed their own songs.
The widespread music club movement throughout the United States also provided good information, as did the quarterly newsletters of the societies of women composers and the American Women Composers, Inc., both in the United States, and Frau and Musik in Germany. Some of them provided the addresses of women composers, who must be the most mobile of all women. Correspondence with them could be most frustrating because a many as 20% of my letters were returned "undeliverable".
Another good source of composer references were music journals, magazines, newspapers. In addition, dissertations were obtained either as microfilm or photocopy from University Microfilm, International, in Ann Arbor, MI.
Sometimes the only information available was found on phonograph record jackets, but very often inquires to record producers were ignored. Librarians at University libraries were invariably helpful insofar as information was available to them. Correspondence with the composer societies in the Iron Curtain countries was always fruitful, except in the case of Soviet Russia, where all my inquiries were ignored. In fact, any information about women composers behind the Iron Curtain, was difficult to come by. This is because the political situation excludes travel to these countries and even correspondence is sometimes limited. So it was in cases like these where my friendship with music antiquarians and some of the booksellers in these countries turned out to be particularly useful.
Another complication is the fact that reference books in these eastern European countries are published in small numbers; no sooner is such a book published than it goes out of print. Thus, for example, I had to go to three different booksellers--from Los Angeles, England, and West Germany--in order to assemble the six volumes of the latest Soviet encyclopaedia. I am happy to say that my listing of the women composers behind the Iron Curtain is the first of its kind) even in those countries.
Now we return to the system of filing information. As I mentioned earlier, each book that was used was given an identification number, its title pages photocopied, and the copies marked with that number and filed accordingly. This file was eventually used to print out the Numerical Bibliography. At the same time, two cards were written up, one headed by the name of the composer and one by the title of the work, to be indexed accordingly under the Bibliography by Author and Bibliography by Title, respectively. The page on which the composer is cited was photocopied and that copy given the same number as the book. The photocopy went into the composer's envelope and the number was entered on the face of the envelope in the column marked "Source of Material." In this way, there was a complete record of the source of every item used in the Encyclopaedia. All reference data, i.e., journal title, issue date, volume number, 33 author, etc., were carefully noted and included under the heading "Bibliography," as was the last paragraph of each composer's biography. The references appear by their identification number at the end of each biography, and form the basis of the bibliographies at the end of the Encyclopaedia, according to number, title, and author. Since extracts from these references were necessarily brief, this bibliographical listing enables a reader who wishes to do further research to obtain the maximum information about the composer.
The hazard here is that sometimes a source was erroneous, necessitating cross-checking via other sources. It frequently happened that an early source was inaccurate, and this inaccuracy was established and reinforced in subsequent dictionaries, biographies, and reference works, until finally 8 later researcher would correct the error. In such a case, considerable courage was needed to correct the entrenched error, backed of course by incontrovertible evidence.
At this stage, the question of copyright arose. There is no copyright on items of fact, but one has to be careful if opinions and commentary are concerned, as permission to use them must be obtained from the appropriate author or publisher. In the case of photographs, particularly where they have been published or taken by a professional photographer, we had to obtain special permission and sometimes to pay a fee before reproducing them.
In summary, all these efforts combined to meet my aim of presenting all available information about women composers. I went to considerable travel, travail, and expense to find books in every language from every country. My computerized date system enabled storage, retrieval, and cross-referencing of a vast quantity of material. To further my aim of making the Encyclopaedia readable and interesting to browse through, I made an effort to provide facets of the times that the composers lived in, and the odd but interesting items in their lives. In addition, the Encyclopaedia had to form a base for further research. Judging from the letters I have received since publication of the first edition, I am happy to say that my objective had indeed been fulfilled.
NOTES This paper was submitted by Aaron I. Cohen, editor of the International Encyclopaedia of Women Composers, to be presented at the Third International Congress on Women in Music, in Mexico City in March of 1984. Mr. Cohen was unable to attend the Congress, so it was read by Beverly Simmons, who has edited it for this publication.