Latest content

February Article of the Month

Women Pursuing Musical Careers: Finding Opportunities in Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Scottish Music Publishing Circles

Karen E. McAulay

Abstract

Much has been written about women as composers, performers, or teachers around the turn of the twentieth century. Less attention has been paid to how women could build portfolio careers by weaving musical practices together. This article focuses on a group of Scottish women who did not make their names solely as art music composers or stellar performers, and for whom piano teaching was only part of their musical work. Four were related to the Scottish music publishers Mozart Allan, James Kerr, and the Logan brothers; the fifth published with Allan and Kerr, and also self-published. All but one made their careers in Scotland. Their lives and achievements reveal the range of musical occupations open to upper working- or lower middle-class women in this era, and also provide insights into musical scenes beyond the English cities more typically the focus of British music histories.