Tera de Marez Oyens as published in the IAWM Journal, October 1995, pp.31.
The Wittgenstein House in Vienna was built by the famous philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein (with some help from an architect) around 1929. Classified as an historical monument since 1971, the house provided perfect surroundings for the Ninth International Congress on Women in Music which took place April 27-30, 1995.
Although the list of congress participants was not very long, it represented very diverse countries: Italy, Spain, England, Ireland, USA, Austria, Germany, Holland, Yugoslavia, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, Australia, and Japan! Participants listened to the lectures and concerts with great attention, and the discussions were lively and sometimes profound.
The lecture by Eva Rieger about "Feminist musicology: Its merits, flaws and future chances" was interesting and well constructed, as are all her lectures. She gave some examples of deciphering music, that is, reading music in such a way that we can decode gender issues. Her unravelling of the motifs of Wagner's Ring der Nibelungen was particularly revealing. Eva urged feminist musicologists to connect a scrutiny of the musical texts with their cultural, biographical, and sociological background.
Mary Ellen Kitchens presented a gender-analysis of the role of the woman conductor. Musical direction has typically been seen as related to "masculine" characteristics. A gender-based analysis of "feminine" and "masculine" characteristics as culturally constructed categories sheds new light on this profession and may lead to a radical redefinition of the vocation itself. How the media depict women conductors raised another point. A critic's review of Lorin Maazel that used enthusiastic adjectives about his gestures would become totally negative when using the same adjectives for a woman conductor. The slides Mary Ellen showed caused much hilarity.
The study on the attitude towards works by men and women composers by Margaret Myers from Sweden, prepared with her students, made clear that even those who say they think there is no difference in creativity between the two tend to hesitate when confronted with a woman's work.
Patricia Adkins Chiti presented her television series "Donne in Musica" which started to be televised last year. There are thirty programs and one "pilot." The series explores three areas: the history of the music profession and women's contribution to this (singers, instrumentalists, and conductors); the history of women composers; and the diversity of "genres" and schools within which women compose today. There are works from 27 countries and nearly 60 composers, from Hildegard von Bingen to works commissioned for the 1994 Münchener Biennale.
Sally Reid presented a Web Site Demonstration, showing possibilities of creating a Network of women composers, in which information can be shared and duplication can be avoided. The IAWM Web Site is an electronic multi-media database on women composers and women-in-music topics. A number of headings currently include information about the IAWM, publications, discographies, bibliographies, publishers' catalogues, and so on. During the discussion the important point of copyright came up, and it seems there is in this respect a big difference between the United States and Europe.
The many concerts were on a high level, starting with a vocal improvisation by Sainkho Namtchilak, who used Tuva-singing and Mongolian throat- and overtone-singing in a fantastic way. The compositions at the concerts ranged from works by Leopoldine Blahetka (1811-1887) to theaterpieces by Anne Le Baron, Kristin Norderval, and Leslie Wildman.
The organization of this congress was excellent, with many opportunities to meet old friends and make new ones in the cafeteria, to browse through books, scores, and CDs, to watch "Donne in Musica" tapes, and to see Vienna from an original point of view: a tour through the women's city of Vienna. During the last afternoon there were oportunities for women to play their personal cassettes, which I think was an excellent idea. Unfortunately I could not be present, so I don't know how many took advantage of this "composition market." The congress-book gave a lot of background information and had as a novelty "National Reports" from eleven countries, a very interesting and worthwhile idea that makes fascinating reading.
I have only named a few of the many who worked together to make this congress a success, not because the others were less interesting, but due to limitations of time and space.
Tera de Marez Oyens is a Dutch composer, conductor, and pianist. An IAWM member, she lives in Hilversum, The Netherlands. Reports from two other participants in the Vienna congress appeared in our June issue.