Female Composers Conductors Performers: Musiciennes of Interwar France 1919-1939

<p>Drawing upon extensive archival research interview material and musical analysis <i>Female Composers Conductors Performers: Musiciennes of Interwar France 1919–1939 </i>presents an innovative study of women working as professional musicians in France between the two World Wars. Hamer positions the activities achievements and reception of women composers conductors and performers against a contemporary socio-political climate that was largely hostile to female professionalism. The musical styles and techniques of Marguerite Canal Jeanne Leleu Germaine Tailleferre Yvonne Desportes Elsa Barraine and Claude Arrieu are discussed with reference to significant works dating from the interwar period. Hamer highlights the activities of Jane Evrard and her Orchestre féminin de Paris as well as the reception of the Orchestra of the Union des Femmes Professeurs et Compositeurs de Musique a contemporary pro-suffrage organisation that was dedicated to defending the collective interests of <i>musiciennes</i> and campaigning for their employment rights. Beyond women composers and conductors Hamer also sheds light on female performers and their contribution to the interwar early music revival. </p><p></p>