Description
Book SynopsisNow in paperback! Mona Mender celebrates the fascinating and diverse women who have done us all a great service by furthering music and helping musicians. Her tribute begins with a brief history that places these women in their proper historical backgrounds. The main part of the book is devoted to the women themselves, most of whom are well-known, including Lucrezia Borgia, Coco Chanel, Gertrude Stein, Catherine de Medici, Queen Elizabeth I, Nadia Boulanger, and Isadora Duncan. Many of these women were the power behind the development of the Metropolitan Opera, the Hollywood Bowl, Tanglewood, Aspen, and other institutions, festivals and organizations. Although the roles of the women varyfrom supportive mothers and sisters, to patronesses, wives and lovers, and then inspired teachers and creative administratorsthey all have one thing in common: they have contributed their support, their passion, and commitment to music and the lives of musicians. For high school, public, and academic li
Trade Review...a fascinating set of vignettes on musically significant women from Eleanor of Acquitaine and Queen Elizabeth I to orchestra activist Helen M. Thompson and the renowned violin teacher Dorothy DeLay. * SymphonyNOW *
...a labor of love that delivers more enjoyable reading than its scholarly title promises...rich in information...a fascinating look at the course of Western history from a musical perspective. * Sarasota Herald-Tribune *
...a masterly capsulized history of music in the Western tradition...entries are balanced biographies filled with insightful commentary and generous citations...with compassion and regret, Mender expresses the yearnings of prefeminist music lovers and the philosophies of their eras which relegated them to the background of the art world...altogether, Mender's work is a surprisingly delightful compendium. * American Reference Books Annual *
