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Les Belles de Nuit: Women publishing keyboard waltzes in Paris, c.1800-1914

Les Belles de Nuit: Women publishing keyboard waltzes in Paris, c.1800-1914
Les Belles de Nuit: Women publishing keyboard waltzes in Paris, c.1800-1914
The study of nineteenth-century social dancing and its music has been the subject of recent academic interest, and much of the attention is focussed on a particularly popular, yet controversial dance - the waltz. However, while research on the cultural, social, and musical implications of waltz music rests upon an analysis of works created by male authors, women as contributors to this influential genre, or indeed to dance music in general, are largely forgotten. For example, it is currently unclear if, how, and why women composed dance music at all, and yet the answers to these questions have the potential to dramatically rebalance and enrich our understanding of European social and musical culture within the period.

By concentrating on keyboard waltzes produced in Paris between 1800-1910, this study will reveal how women navigated the contemporary attitudes towards both waltzing and female composers, and attempted to harness the dance’s popularity as a springboard to participating in music as a professional enterprise. Crucially, this thesis also provides the most comprehensive analysis of nineteenth-century French female composers and the music they produced to date, contextualising scores and their authors within wider cultural environments. In doing so, this research challenges long-held historical assumptions and narratives surrounding women and their contribution to musical life within the period, many of which still hold firm today.
University of Southampton
Venegas Butt, Diana Elizabeth
134a1096-50d2-4b63-8997-ee090533f10c
Venegas Butt, Diana Elizabeth
134a1096-50d2-4b63-8997-ee090533f10c
Everist, Mark
54ab6966-73b4-4c0e-b218-80b2927eaeb0
Faulds, Katrina
2c337412-ceb3-486a-8688-1c3cf4c72bd1

Venegas Butt, Diana Elizabeth (2021) Les Belles de Nuit: Women publishing keyboard waltzes in Paris, c.1800-1914. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis, 318pp.

Record type: Thesis (Doctoral)

Abstract

The study of nineteenth-century social dancing and its music has been the subject of recent academic interest, and much of the attention is focussed on a particularly popular, yet controversial dance - the waltz. However, while research on the cultural, social, and musical implications of waltz music rests upon an analysis of works created by male authors, women as contributors to this influential genre, or indeed to dance music in general, are largely forgotten. For example, it is currently unclear if, how, and why women composed dance music at all, and yet the answers to these questions have the potential to dramatically rebalance and enrich our understanding of European social and musical culture within the period.

By concentrating on keyboard waltzes produced in Paris between 1800-1910, this study will reveal how women navigated the contemporary attitudes towards both waltzing and female composers, and attempted to harness the dance’s popularity as a springboard to participating in music as a professional enterprise. Crucially, this thesis also provides the most comprehensive analysis of nineteenth-century French female composers and the music they produced to date, contextualising scores and their authors within wider cultural environments. In doing so, this research challenges long-held historical assumptions and narratives surrounding women and their contribution to musical life within the period, many of which still hold firm today.

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Published date: January 2021

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 447383
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/447383
PURE UUID: c72ce768-bffa-4d95-9925-d1c96d60d183

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Date deposited: 10 Mar 2021 17:40
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 11:22

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