Unsung: A History of Women in American Music

by Christine Ammer

Overview

This updates and expanded edition of the classic text in the field describes hundreds of women musicians -- composers, instrumentalists, orchestra and opera managers, music educators, and music patrons, and their activity from the 18th to 21st centuries. It includes their most important compositions and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and Gravemeyer Award. It also includes descriptions of women's ensembles, both classical, such as the Women's Philharmonic of Chicago, and popular jazz groups.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781483577005
Publisher:	BookBaby
Publication date:	07/26/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	600
File size:	783 KB

About the Author

Christine Ammer is the author of several dozen reference books, on subjects ranging from women's health to cliches and idioms, to music. Her other music books include The Facts on File Dictionary of Music and The A to Z of Foreign Musical Terms. This long-awaited updated and expanded edition of Unsung, the classic text in the field, surverys women's activity in American music from the 18th to 21st centuries. It includes hundreds of women composers, conductors, instrumentalists, orchestra and opera managers, and music educators. An amateur musician and choral singer herself, Ammer delights in chronicling the progress of women in music.

Editorial Reviews

Revised and expanded from the 1980 version (Greenwood), this "Century Edition" of the first book to survey the role of women in American music history from 1800 to 2000 reflects the information explosion in the field as evidenced by the bibliography, which includes about five dozen sources appearing after 1979. In terms of revisions, Ammer (The HarperCollins Dictionary of Music, 3d ed.) has gracefully rewritten unclear passages and corrected facts. Expansions include 18 halftone photos (not seen), updated information about women included in the first edition, and the addition of more women and more subjects: blues, jazz, ragtime, and "international fusion." Two new chapters cover electronic music, mixed media, film, performance art, and women as advocates and patrons of serious American music-making. This second edition follows the first's suit and omits women singers because "[t]hey only compete with other women in their own voice parts, and hence are immune to the gender discrimination faced by women composers, instrumentalists, and conductors." This excellent reworking of an indispensable title is highly recommended. Bonnie Jo Dopp, Univ. of Maryland Libs., College Park Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

This study of women in American music looks at past and present trends and recounts individual stories of composers, instrumentalists, conductors, orchestra and opera managers, and music educators. Ammer (a writer and amateur musician) discusses attitudes toward women's roles in both music and society, looking back to the earliest European settlers in the 1600s, but focusing on the years 1800-2000. New chapters and material have been added to this edition. Although it can be argued that tremendous strides have been made in the opportunities available to women, this study offers a long-term perspective on the inadequate recognition women receive and the comparatively small number of them hired to serve on music faculties and in symphony orchestras. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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