To return to the abstract index press the back button on your browser
Brydie Bartleet
Women and Music, University of Queensland
'Female Conductors: The Incarnation of Power?'
All cultures acknowledge a particular kind of power inherent in music - whether that power involves communication with the supernatural, healing, or the abstraction of complex social beliefs into the observable act of performance. Yet, the ritual of music making seems to have been conceptualised and positioned within Western societies in ways that have hidden from view its importance as a basis for the exercise of power.
The ability of music to empower or diminish individuals, groups and cultures seems to have rested significantly on the limited extent to which that power has been understood. Music in the contemporary industrialised Western world, has been viewed and managed either as cultural capital, the priority of those with power and influence, or as leisure and entertainment, a diversion and distraction for those without power, making it appear peripheral, marginal and of little consequence to the important social and political concerns of the day(John Shepherd, 'Difference and Power in Music' Musicology and Difference, 1993). This is certainly the case when we examine music as an instrument of power and gender definition; until recent decades, musicology has generally bypassed the fact that the practice, understanding, and management of music have attracted a specific and powerful form of gendering.
The most visible example of this is the role of professional orchestral conductor. This visually prominent position has often been discussed in music literature in terms of its mythical, transcendental status. Blaukopf, along with many others, has described the 'super-human' qualities of the role:
Above all, he is a leader of men. His subjects look to him for guidance. He is at once a father image, the great provider, the fount of inspiration, the Teacher who knows all. To call him a great moral force might not be an overstatement. Perhaps he is half divine; certainly he works under the shadow of divinity. He has to be a strong man; and the stronger he is, the more dictatorial he is called by those he governs. He has to but stretch out his hand and he is obeyed. He tolerates no opposition. His will, his word, his very glance, are law (Kurt Blaukopf, Great Conductors,1955)
Such a statement shows how his 'divine' eminence appears to transcend human flaws and the earthly nature of the body. As his 'godly stretched out hand' lays down the 'law' his role can be viewed as the incarnation of power itself (Norman Lebrecht, The Maestro Myth: Great Conductors in Pursuit of Power, 1997). A womanly body on the podium obviously challenges 'this father image' and brings into question a number of issues for women in this leadership position. As has been shown by many feminist writers, the concept of power can often be both alienating and alien to women. How does a female conductor mould her gendered body and feminine behavior into this powerful role, so saturated with masculine values?
In this paper I will use narrative descriptions, from a recent series of interviews with prominent female conductors in the US, UK and Australia, interwoven with theoretical concepts of corporeal feminism and ideas from the poststructuralist theorist Michel Foucault, to explore how a female conductor's body and behavior are perceived in terms of 'otherness' and how this impinges on women trying to assume this leadership role. I will reveal how the music profession has legitimised and concealed power structures that have fostered a specific and powerful form of gendering. I will then discuss how these women have negotiated their way through such powerful structures to challenge and redefine the role.
Bio: Brydie-Leigh Bartleet is one of the course developers, lecturers and tutors for the newly established Women and Music course at the University of Queensland. She also teaches the Gender and Music components of the musicological research methods courses at the School of Music. She has presented a number of seminars at the School of Music on Female Conductors, Gender and Power in the Music Profession, and Music and Sexuality. She is in the final stages of completing a PhD on female conductors. Her research has recently taken her across the US and Europe to interview internationally renowned female conductors as well as the administrators of the world's leading orchestras. She completed a Bachelor of Music (Honours) at the Queensland Conservatorium where she studied conducting, trumpet and musicology. She has been working with university and community bands and orchestras over the last five years and recently took her ensemble, the Brisbane Symphonic Band on tour to the 11th International Chia-Yi Band Festival, in Taiwan. She will be one of the conductors at the International School of the Arts, held at ACU, in July this year.
<brydie.bartleet@mailbox.uq.edu.au>