What's a Girl To Do? Musical Careers for Women in the 1700's

The options for girls wishing to have a musical career during the 1700's and before were very limited.  Some made a go of performing publicly at court and the homes of the rich or noble, like Mozart's sister, but they were few and far between.  More often women, even those of the highest talent, were rejected in favor of their male counterparts.

This left the majority with two options.  The first was, obviously, to teach their own children music at home.  Although this is a worthy occupation, it did nothing for their own musical dreams.

Their second option may surprise you.  Many women chose to join convents as a means to pursue their musical careers. Convents were unique in that they offered women opportunities to perform regularly and even compose and produce their own works.

Within the convent was a strict hierarchy through which women could progress until they became the official Chormeisterin, the head over all music in the convent.  Convents came to be known as places of excellent musical prowess by citizens and the number of musically talents young ladies joining was surprisingly high.

For more information on the musical nuns of the 18th century take a look at the works of Dr. Janet Page, especially her articles in the Oxford journal.

What would you have done if you'd lived in the 1700's?  Would you have become a nun?

Photos Courtesy of homyox and Sunfrog1