"Only for decoration's sake?"
Women in music from the middle ages to the present day
With music by Hildegard von Bingen, Barbara Strozzi, Anna-Amalia von Preussen, Clara Schumann, Rachael Cogan a.o.
In 1820, his father wrote to the then 15-year-old Fanny Mendelsohn in a letter: "Music will perhaps become a profession for him [Felix], while for you it can and should only be an adornment, never the fundamental basis of your being and doing." He was thus referring to the limits of what women were socially allowed to do musically. But at all times there were women who were strong enough to assert themselves and express their talent, whether as composers or virtuosos.