“Why Are Our Women-Composers So Little Known?”

In the 1939 issue of Kalendarz dla kobiet [Women’s Almanac], in the section for Music Composers

Kalendarz dla kobiet na rok 1939 [Women’s Almanac for 1939], Warsaw, Tow. Wyd. “Bluszcz”, 1939, pp. 62–63.

This list was supplemented with the names of a few dance, popular song and operetta composers, such as: [Wanda] Vorbond-Dąbrowska, [Fanny] Gordonówna, as well as [Helena] Karasińska, daughter of Adam Karasiński, who wrote the then popular waltz entitled François.

This list obviously does not provide us with the complete picture of women-composers’ environment in Poland, not only on the eve of WWII, but in the entire interwar period. What we can glean from the list, though, is just how varied that environment was and how many different trends it involved. A year earlier, a much larger group of women-composers was represented at the 1^st Congress of Women’s Social and Civic Work held in June 1938 in Warsaw

The Congress, summoned by 17 women’s organisations in collaboration with 24 others, was held on 25^th-30^th June. Music was represented at the Congress by the Committee for Artistic-Literary Work, during whose session three papers were presented: Zofii Lissa’s Znaczenie muzyki w życiu młodzieży w okresie dojrzewania [The Place of Music in the Life of Adolescents]; Ryta Gnus’s Rozwój twórczości muzycznej kobiecej w Polsce [The Development of Women’s Music Composition in Poland], and Stefania Łobaczewska’s Rola tradycji w twórczości muzycznej [The Role of Tradition in Music Composition]. Cf. Pierwszy Kongres Społeczno-Obywatelskiej Pracy Kobiet w Warszawie. Program [The 1^st Congress of Women’s Social and Civic Work in Warsaw. A Programme], Warsaw, 1938.

Example 1

The work and artistic legacy of these composers is still very little known, not only owing to material losses resulting from the ravages of war, but also because of the scarcity of research in this field in recent decades. The very mention of women-composers’ interwar output in historical studies must already be considered as a success

As, for instance, in J. Reiss, Najpiękniejsza ze wszystkich jest muzyka polska [Polish Music Is the Most Beautiful of All], Kraków, Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 1946.

In a paper of this size I cannot, for obvious reasons, even attempt to make up for all this research backlog. Instead, my aim here is to define the role and place of women’s output within the body of Polish music from the interwar period, and to draw a more in-depth picture of women-composers’ activity at that time, including their participation in local and international music life as well as their artistic achievements (the most eminent personalities, stylistic and genre-related questions), viewed primarily from the perspective of their reception in the contemporary press and other publications.

As Magdalena Dziadek reminds us,

to be a composer, even on the eve of World War II, meant – to respect certain ‘limits of decency’, as outlined by the Lwów-(Lviv-) based musicologist Seweryn Barbag in his assessment of his contemporary, Irena Białkiewicz: “[S]he knows the limits of her talent, avoids the problems that result from the spirit of the age, and remains faithful to the traditions of the Romantic era” Quoted after: Polska pieśń artystyczna [The Polish Art Song], in: Muzyka polska. Monografia zbiorowa [Polish Music. A Collective Monograph], Mateusz Gliński (ed.), Warsaw 1927

Dziadek, ‘Wstęp’, p. 26.

This observation is of crucial importance to any understanding of the Polish women-composers’ status in the society and culture of the interwar period. They worked within a dominant aesthetic discourse in which women, despite considerable achievements in the area of equal rights, still remained on the margin of ‘true’ artistic work, and had to deal with the burden of the 19^th-century legacy of ‘women’s music’ being identified with Salonmusik or Trivialmusik

Cf. C. Dahlhaus, Studien Zur Trivialmusik Des 19. Jahrhunderts, Regensburg, Gustav Bosse Verlag, 1967; Andreas Ballstaedt and Tobias Widmaier, Salonmusik. Zur Geschichte und Praxis einer bürgerlichen Musikpraxis, Stuttgart, Steiner Verlag, 1989. On the qualities of ‘salon music’, see also: I. Poniatowska, Muzyka fortepianowa i pianistyka w wieku XIX [Piano Music and Piano Art in the 19^th Century], Warsaw, “Rewasz”, 1991, esp. at pp. 278–279.

Extremely representative of this tendency are those records of historical reception that show how the artist’s gender determined the characterisation of the products of her or his creative talent, as exemplified by the brief composer profile quoted above by Magdalena Dziadek. The topic was discussed by Józef Reiss in his 1928 article

J. Reiss, ‘Muzykalność kobiety’ [‘Women’s Musicality’], Muzyk Wojskowy, no. 17, 1928, pp. 1–3.

Astonishing as Reiss’s theses undoubtedly may sound for present-day readers, they make us realise how deep-rooted and durable this way of thinking was in interwar Poland. A similar tone can be found in the statements of other leading critics from that period, even those who were otherwise genuinely kindly predisposed toward women’s musical ‘productions’. One example is Felicjan Szopski’s 1929 review of a recital by Lucyna Robowska, a well-known social activist and pianist, highly regarded by both musicians and the audience, who strove to promote especially those Polish music works that had never been publicly performed before

She gradually and painstakingly collected such repertoire from manuscripts, and included it in the programmes of her piano recitals. Cf. e.g. Bis [Leopold Binental], ‘Koncert Lucyny Robowskiej’ [‘A Concert by Lucyna Robowska’], Kurier Warszawski, vol. 116, no. 71, 1936, p. 8.

Several years later, in a review of another concert by Robowska, Michał Kondracki, rather than commenting on the gender of the composers, focused on the artistic quality of the presented works, discovering among them some genuine jewels, while others he criticised as unnecessary effort to perform “mediocre writing by (male and female) composers not worth their salt,” among whom, from among the women, he listed Szubertowa, Wojciechowska and Łopuska, and among the men – Lipski, Sym, Świerzyński and Boruński

M. Kondracki, ‘Utwory polskich kompozytorów w wykonaniu Lucyny Robowskiej’ [‘Works by Polish Composers Performed by Lucyna Robowska’], ABC, vol. 11, no. 75, 1936, p. 4.

Kondracki’s review, however, was hardly a signum temporis heralding some radical change of attitudes. Also in later years the writings of Polish music critics confirmed their mistrust and distance towards women-composers. The already mentioned Congress of Women’s Social and Civic Work was accompanied by a number of concerts which received wide coverage in the press. Reports and commentaries once again demonstrated critical attitudes and conservative thinking, as in the review written by Władysław Burkath for Myśl Narodowa [The National Thought ] weekly:

If we were synthetically to characterise the sum total of women’s musical productions that could be heard there, I must conclude that the ‘gift of God’ which characterises men’s artistic output in particular (I hope the Ladies may forgive me this comment) is rather rare in the two dozen or so of the Polish women-composers represented there. It is most typically replaced by decent technique, precision and meticulousness

ASPER [Władysław Burkath], ‘Twórczość muzyczna kobiet’ [‘Women’s Music Compositions’], Myśl Narodowa, no. 30, 1938, p. 474.

Example 2

Naturally, some of the presented works and artistic personalities did win recognition. The reviewer of Nowy Głos [New Voice], for instance, praised Helena Dorabialska’s “excellent knowledge of a composer’s profession”, Bacewicz’s temperament and “ardent rhythms”, as well as Zofia Ossendowska’s “good artistic taste.”

Echo, ‘Koncert symfoniczny w Teatrze Wielkim’ [‘A Symphonic Concert at the Grand Theatre’], Nowy Głos, no.184, 1938, p. 4.

The most complimentary report seems to have been the one written by Leopold Binental for Kurier Warszawski [The Warsaw Courier ]. The author observed, admittedly, that few “women can be said to have synthesised any specific style in their composition, or to have contributed with their works to the artistic enhancement of the aesthetic values promoted by great composers.” Still, he appreciated the women-composers’ “thorough qualifications for independent work in a wide field of practice”

Bis [Leopold Binental], ‘Muzyka na kongresie pracy kobiet’ [‘Music at Women’s Work Congress’], Kurier Warszawski, vol. 118, no. 179, 1938, p. 11.

What did the women-artists themselves say to all this? One could hardly dispute the argument that the history of music had not yet yielded a female genius comparable to that of Bach or Beethoven. Zofia Lissa commented on this subject rather cautiously and apparently without great expectations in 1930:

Overall we must admit that women-composers have never excelled in their works beyond the average standards, and never determined the general directions of music’s development, though in many cases their output was of a much higher than average quality. In the context of the ever greater development and autonomy of women’s intellectual life, will they prove equal to the really great masters? This remains a question for the future

Z. Lissa, ‘Udział kobiet w twórczości muzycznej’ [‘Women’s Role in Music Composition’], Chwila, vol. 12, no. 4071, 1930, p. 9.

On the other hand, however, it seemed extremely important to make the Polish women’s compositions more prominently present in the social awareness; in other words, to make the Polish society aware that such music existed and was worthy of closer attention. This aim was pursued by the authors of texts printed in women’s press, daily papers, and music periodicals, which synthetically presented the women-composers’ musical output as well as their artistic biographies. Such articles did not aspire to the role of musicological publications and sometimes contained errors (even in the names of the artists). Nevertheless, they did fulfil their aim as vehicles of information and promotion.

One example is Zofia Zdziennicka-Bergerowa’s text published in 1934 in Polska Zbrojna [The Polish Armed Forces], which aimed to disprove one journalist’s opinion about music composition being the only discipline of art “foreign to women.” She responded to this claim by presenting brief profiles of such Polish women-composers as Helena Dorabialska (“an outstanding talent supported by in-depth knowledge of music”), Łucja Drège-Schielowa (“a talent in the making”), Anna Klechniowska (“a truly exuberant talent active in different fields of music composition”), as well as herself (presented as the one who “has dedicated her work to the revival of early instruments”)

Z.B. [Zofia Bergerowa], ‘Kobieta polska jako kompozytorka’ [‘The Polish Woman as a Composer’], Polska Zbrojna, vol. 13, no. 141, 1934, p. 6. A similar list of women-composers’ names coupled with profiles of a similar kind was included two years later by Maria Łepkowska in her text ‘Współczesne kompozytorki’ [‘Contemporary Women-Composers’], Światowid, no. 5, 1936, pp. 120–122).

Following the 1^st Congress of Women’s Social and Civic Work, Bluszcz [illustrated women’s weekly] printed an article by Ryta Gnus entitled Muzyczki polskie w okresie XX-lecia niepodległości [Polish Women-Musicians during the Twenty Years of Independent Poland]

Bluszcz, vol. 71, no. 46, 1938, pp. 56–59.

Of special interest is Stefania Łobaczewska’s article

S. Łobaczewska, ‘Kobieta w muzyce’ [‘The Woman in Music’], in Herminia Naglerowa (ed.), Almanach spraw kobiecych. Postulaty, zagadnienia [A Women’s Almanac. Problems and Postulates], Warsaw, Wydział Prasowy Z.P.O.K, 1933, pp. 174–177.

Łobaczewska justified this claim focusing on “the creative powers” contributed by women to musical culture, and on the new “way of experiencing music.” In this way she alluded to Reiss’s opinion in what might be considered as a veiled polemic against that latter author. She resolutely argued that creative powers “are given to every person to a certain extent; all that counts is that they should be developed and properly channelled, in which case, even if manifested in an incomplete form, they can still bring excellent results.”

Łobaczewska, p. 176.

It would be naïve to think that Łobaczewska’s arguments convinced the sceptics. It was exceedingly difficult in the interwar period for women to be admitted to the circles of “serious composers worth their salt.”

This phrase was used by Roman Palester in his programme on Grażyna Bacewicz (from the cycle Wiadomości kulturalne – Culture News no. 623) broadcast on Radio Free Europe on 22^nd January 1969.

As we can see, Polish women-composers certainly did not have the chance freely to develop their talents. The one who seems to have come the closest to such a chance was Sternicka-Niekraszowa, pupil and protégé of Karol Szymanowski, upon whom enormous hopes were pinned; however, she died prematurely at the age of 34. In most cases, Polish women-musicians who had some aspirations as composers focused their professional activity on music performance and on teaching. Despite her substantial output of compositions, Anna Maria Klechniowska was mainly known as the inventor of a pioneering (and highly ingenious) piano method (still applied by piano teachers today)

For beginners, the author recommended replacing clefs with a division of the keyboard into groups of tones lower or higher than the middle C.

Symptomatic of women’s position in music at that time is Anna Maria Klechniowska’s comment found in an interview conducted by Stefania Jagodzińska-Niekraszowa, where the composer emphasises that her creative powers and the ease with which she wrote music had not yet yielded an adequate output of compositions, since she was hindered in this task by various “domestic problems” and by her sex. She then adds:

Our society unfortunately doesn’t trust women’s talents yet, and our colleagues would rather not notice, or hear, the music [we write], even if it can equal or sometimes even excel in its ideas and originality some of their frequently poor productions… Someone told me I must die first in order to gain fame! But I don’t feel like dying yet. And I prefer to justify my posthumous fame by writing a greater number of compositions first

S. Jagodzińska-Niekraszowa, ‘Rozmowa z Anną Marią Klechniowską, kompozytorką poematów symfonicznych’ [‘An Interview with Anna Maria Klechniowska, Composer of Symphonic Poems’], Gazeta Gdańska, no. 151, 1936, p. 12.

In the efforts to make the Polish society aware of women’s musical output, an enormous role was played by women’s organisations and women-activists, who organised exhibitions and concerts. Preparations for the Polish participation in the International Congress of Women (Chicago, 17^th–19^th July 1933) involved the establishment of a special Committee which aimed to make Polish women-artists’ journey to the United States possible. At the same time, the works of Polish women-authors and composers were collected for presentation at the Congress exhibition

An. Wal., ‘Powszechny Kongres Autorek w Chicago’ [‘The General Congress of Women-Authors in Chicago’], ABC, vol. 8, no. 55, 1933, p. 6.

Following the US congress, the concert activity of Polish women-composers in our own country intensified. It involved both events for a wide audience and for the professional milieu. This activity was partly an attempt to answer the question (contained in the title of the present paper) concerning the reasons for the Polish society’s ignorance with regard to the women-composers’ output. Especially rich in such events was the year 1934, when the Warsaw Society of Friends of Arts held, among others, ‘an evening of Polish women-composers’

‘Dlaczego nasze kompozytorki są tak mało znane?’ [‘Why Are Our Women-Composers So Little Known’, Nowy Czas, vol. 4, no. 100, 1934, p. 8.

Let us finally take a closer look at Polish women-composers’ output of music written in the interwar period. The artists who contributed to it were both well-recognised composers with an established position and others who were only just embarking on their careers; well-educated in the field, and ‘semi-amateurs’. They represent a wide spectrum of styles and composition techniques, the same ones that were practised by the male representatives of the Polish music world: from the 19^th-century neo-Romantic legacy, to impressionism, to neoclassicism and other forms of musical modernism.

The closest to the heritage of the Romantic era are the works of Leokadia Myszyńska-Wojciechowska, Zofia Wróblewska, and Irena Białkiewiczówna. The oeuvre of that last composer is of particular interest, since, apart from songs, she also wrote symphonic works, in genres at that time rarely associated with the ‘female soul’. Her output includes Piano Concerto [in C-sharp minor], premiered in January 1919, which “won the audience’s hearts with confident writing, […] ingenuity, and an eminent sense of form. It is a ‘male’ piece of work, skilful and with temperament, definitely rich and quite interesting.”

‘Muzyka. Nowe kompozycje’ [‘Music. New Works’], Rydwan, vol. 3, no. 1, 1919, p. 29.

There are several reasons to claim that the most interesting female personality in the Polish interwar music scene before Grażyna Bacewicz

I do not discuss her output separately here, but another article in the same volume of Musicology Today, written by Małgorzata Gąsiorowska, has been dedicated to her oeuvre.

Sternicka’s symphonic suite Chess was praised for vigour, sense of humour, but also for the quality of her sound textures

Zastępca, Muzyka, vol. 8, no. 4–6, 1931, p. 236.

Other pieces by Sternicka-Niekraszowa undoubtedly had a similar potential. Following a concert under the baton of Stanisław Wiechowicz, she was praised for the style and concept of her composition, as well as “skilful presentation of the principal theme, written in the style of medieval church jubilations”, as well as a texture “of a high technical standard.”

M. Gliński, ‘Z opery i sal koncertowych’ [‘From the Opera and Concert Halls’], Muzyka, vol. 7, no. 2, 1930, p. 106.

Another very interesting example of Sternicka’s output is Suita kolorowa [Suite of Colours] for piano, in which she attempted “to describe in sounds the expressive qualities and mood of the various colours: blue, yellow, black, etc.” Her vision of the ‘lilac’ colour was printed in Muzyka’s sheet music series, while Ojcze nasz [Our Father] for voice and piano appeared under the imprint of the Polish Music Publishing Society (TWMP). The latter piece was said to be distinguished by its “far-from-banal melodies” and “fresh if not very original harmonies, in which a listener familiar with Szymanowski’s style will easily recognise echoes of King Roger, Act One, as well as the central movements of his Stabat Mater.”

‘Nowe wydawnictwa nutowe’ [‘New Sheet Music Publications’], Muzyka, vol. 13, no. 7–12, 1936, p. 118.

A composer who made important contributions to Polish musical modernism, Anna Maria Klechniowska, a close friend of Karol Szymanowski, remained in her early period under the influence of the Young Poland movement. She made her mark with the symphonic poem Wawel, whose versified programme was written by Professor Edmund Żegota-Cięglewicz, the well-known translator of Aristophanes. The work, dedicated to Marshal Józef Piłsudski, was performed several times in the interwar years (for the first time – in 1927 in Cracow by an orchestra made up of military bands, conducted by Juliusz Schreyer)

We must therefore reject Marcin Gmys’s thesis that Wawel may never have been performed, as well as his otherwise very interesting claim that Klechniowska’s poem may have been inspired by Stanisław Wyspiański’s drama Akropolis. Cf. Gmys, Harmonie i dysonanse, pp. 427–428.

A composition that proved a great success was Klechniowska’s triptych Bilitis for voice, a chorus (of dancers) and piano, in three movements: Bilitis’ Offering (Invocation) — Night — Pan and the Dryads. This “rhythm-and-visuals dance piece” not only earned its composer acclaim in the United States (where, at the concert held in May 1934, the vocal part was sung by Maria Krakowska, prima donna of Chicago Civic Opera House, and the sets were created by Polish painter Ludwik Bodzewski)

‘Sukces kompozytorki polskiej za oceanem’ [‘A Polish Woman-Composer’s Overseas Success’], Polska Zbrojna, vol. 13, no. 166, 1934, p. 5.

Stylistically speaking, most of the Polish women-composers represented, so to speak, the middle way, steering clear of radical novelty, but also of ‘Romanticising’ tendencies. Helena Dorabialska, whose approach to music composition was most likely influenced by her reputation as a researcher and musicologist, was one of those praised for maintaining this kind of balance. At one of the first concerts presenting her works, held by the Polish Composers’ Association in 1928, the audience had an opportunity to hear her songs, Sonata for violin and piano, as well as minor piano pieces. A reviewer commented:

those pieces belong on the whole to the Romantic trend, but with some evident traces of the influence of the French impressionists. They are distinguished by: rich, fluid and pleasant melodic invention, supported by solid knowledge, lyrical in character, but frequently with a predilection for dramatic effects and musical characterisation

J.R., ‘Koncert “Stowarzyszenia współczesnych kompozytorów polskich”’ [‘A Concert of the Association of Contemporary Music Composers’], Robotnik, vol. 34, no. 68, 1928, p. 5.

Example 3

Dorabialska’s output was varied and quite substantial. It included Variations for piano and orchestra, a string quartet with harp, a symphonic Prelude, a Mass for mixed choir, solo tenor and piano (or organ), as well as two operas: Dewaki after Édouard Schuré’s The Virgin Devaki, and Hanusia after Gerhardt Hauptmann’s Hanneles Himmelfahrt. For Bluszcz magazine’s sheet music collection, the composer presented her modest-scale Dialog [Dialogue] for piano.

Łucja Drège-Schielowa was an independent phenomenon among Polish women-composers, described as one who “does not embrace any trend in advance, nor does she count herself as an adherent of any.”

Gnus, ‘Muzyczki polskie’, p. 56.

Władysława Markiewiczówna attracted critical interest in 1928 with her piano pieces which, as Stefania Łobaczewska reported, “demonstrated a very good sense of form and of colouristic qualities, mostly modelled on the recent French school.”

Łobaczewska, ‘Z sali koncertowej i opery’, p. 5.

The eminent violinist Zofia Iwanowska-Ossendowska, who ran her own music school in Warsaw, was a unique figure in the feminine music scene in Poland. Her main successes as a composer followed in the wake of a journey through Spain and Africa which she had undertaken with her husband, Ferdynand Ossendowski. They visited North Africa with a camera, collecting materials for “Poland’s first exotic film,”

The title of the film was Wyprawa F. A. Ossendowskiego do Afryki Podzwrotnikowej [F. A. Ossendowski’s Expedition to Subtropical Africa]. Cf. M. Hendrykowska, Historia polskiego filmu dokumentalnego (1896–1944) [Polish Documentary Film History, 1896–1944], Poznań, Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu im. A. Mickiewicza, 2015, pp. 100–103.

Example 4

Example 5

The artistically transformed exotic motifs gave rise to Ossendowska’s enthusiastically publicly acclaimed violin and piano works, which represent interesting examples of exoticism in music. A reporter of Tygodnik Ilustrowany listed the following pieces:

[…] Songs of warriors (Mujahid and Devant Morho-Naba for piano), of fishermen (La Malinké for piano), of warlike invaders (La Foulah for piano), farmers (Chant Bambara, Melancolie, and Triste Berçeuse for piano and violin); the dances of fetish-worshipping sorcerers (Ouango for piano) — all these new and previously unknown themes found in the person of Zofia Ossendowska a talented and discerning composer and performer

‘Nowy dorobek muzyczny Zofii Ossendowskiej’ [‘Zofia Ossendowska’s New Compositions’], Tygodnik Ilustrowany, no. 7, 1927, p. 137.

Polish women-composers did not exclude popular music authors from their milieux. Even those who specialised in ‘serious’ music [poważna – Polish equivalent of ‘classical’ – translator’s note] did not shun writing lighter repertoire as well, as evident, for instance, from the press account of the concert in Bergerowa’s salon (quoted above). It was also such ‘light’ music that filled the entire second part of the evening concert held during the 1938 Congress of Women’s Social and Civic Work, first as the accompaniment for choreographic productions (one of the ballet composers was Helena Karasińska), and later – in a performance by Wanda Vorbond-Dąbrowska’s vocal quartet

Echo, ‘Wieczór symfoniczny w Teatrze Wielkim’.

The above-presented brief panorama of women’s musical output in Poland in 1918–1939 is naturally far from complete. A full reconstruction may be impossible because some of their careers proved ephemeral, many basic biographical facts remain unknown, and finding any proof of their activity other than mentions in the press is exceedingly difficult. Though the Polish women-composers basically functioned in a sort of a ‘parallel world’, complementary to the world of Polish music composition ‘proper’, there is no doubt that their output penetrated into that other ‘mainstream’ world, as well as reflecting its dominant trends and tendencies. Their music embraced, for instance, the concept (put forward by Karol Szymanowski) of a modern national style developed in connection with European culture and making use of modern means of expression. This style manifested itself not only in the use of folk music material, but also of other vehicles for transmitting the nation’s ‘spiritual qualities’ in music. Polish women-composers likewise joined the neoclassical trend which transformed historical stylistic and formal models in the spirit of modernity, or continued the impressionists’ work with sound colour. Some of them also demonstrated an interest in the ‘New Objectivity’ movement, understood as an art linked to such characteristic phenomena of contemporary civilisation as sport or modern dance rhythms.

The musical output of Polish women-composers active in the interwar period, with the notable exception of Grażyna Bacewicz, did not stand the test of time. What has not been lost, has been marginalised and forgotten, even in those cases when the composers themselves were still active after WWII. The reasons for such a situation are very complex, but it is certainly not merely a result of the low artistic value of their works, or of the local Polish social, cultural and historical context

Marta Beszterda wrote about those uniquely Polish contexts in her paper: ‘At the Intersection of Musical Culture and Historical Legacy: Feminist Musicology in Poland’, Kwartalnik Młodych Muzykologów UJ, no. 34, 2017, pp. 29–50. Available from: http://www.ejournals.eu/kmmuj/2017/Issue-34/, (accessed 10 September 2019).