Ox Women axp Music a Woah a histo do ith ity eh ow be ation of wore i ich Inge tnagh ron bok. Ise 1948 sopmis pnuvxeR poblsed the fist large-scale feminist toy devoted to women in musi’ Hert was am ambi endetking: #9 make Jenova the tle of women in mic throughout the world and throughout ‘ime. Completa alent the seadmic esablshment, her project avoided ‘uudinal historical marae, nse i Ganctoaed a+ compendia or "soy" as Drinker ere ced it, ced fom anthropclogcl, conograph- sea, mythological and historical sources® Drinkers book wae prophetic in 4s topical and multicultural approach Though an eccentic work, did contain an important mesoge only by ocknowleging a varie of clues ould one pina beter understanding of women's place in music Like Denker’ visionary opus ths book secs to expand the horizons of musical studies by exploring ies concerning women fom + thematle pespectve. Comprising an untsualconstelaton of essay, it explores msc ‘making andthe oles women hve played restors ad performers in ari- us spheres Italo considers epesntatons of women and what ty revel ‘shout the caltures fom which they emerge. The book encompasses a wide Selection ofsbjecs, ranging in ie from the relth entry tothe present ‘Geographical, it pans the plbe from Asa Europe andthe Mid Eas to the America More signfcaniy, embrace the diverse muses of popu, srl, and Wester a adios ‘Women’s Voices acres Misia! Worle the St book to take a its pint of departure specie mus atve and expressions of wornen frm both4 1 fn Brin 2 cosecaltral and crosrhistorcal perspective Unlike eater texts this Yolume i not ordered chronoogilly into ori periods or lsd out cording to geographic area Nether sit organize sccording to specie Theoret epproudhes® Instead, centers on significant sues and themes that emerge when women and music come together. chs encourages inter ciliary speculation with gender sits main fous of inquiry. "The prominence ofthe word voice” inthe tide remains partly ele sant because ofits broad range of meanings hat uns throughout the book. “The space beeen the term's itera dfiton a the mca sound pro: ced by singers and its metaphorical significance asthe representation of femal vocaliy includes an exensive variety of musical and social comet ‘ons. Femle voices can embody the multiple personae of traditional Japa rose dance or they can masquerade as rien in eal aineteea-centary alan oper. They canbe disembodied, ain the cate ofthe Bolognese mins, whose prforsances could be heard but no seen, Singers! voices can empower other wore, 8 sen in eal twentieth ceararyrral and casi blues women andthe popstar Tri Amos. The can also “Speak” fr whole communes, whether it be for political sociah a ‘ional or waivers crs a in the cae of Umm Kulm, Jon Bae, 20d ‘Mercedes Son, Convery, vices canbe dxempowered through segregation andlor scbjogntion, as observed in the chapters dealing with public snp ‘te voir andthe closeted woe, Voices not only signity gender, but also ehni, national, and elious ‘dents around the world, Wedding ritual of Albanian rural ifthe ing Ing ofa thousand-yer-old form of Arabic poetry, othe stylized movements of wadional Japanese dance—ihese performance genres act as media of ‘expresio for their cultures Final, Wester societies ofthe past and pres nt can communicte tous through voies reflecting tei oe time They «an be nlying eres for national unity andor peace throughout the Amer. fs, persistent clamors for profesional egoality in ninetenth- and esthy twenteth-cenary Europe, or spiritual uterencs fom the medicral and ‘eaty moder Catholic Church “Voice” ar ako been sed as metaphor in feminist discourse, Such ‘atchphrases as “having 2 vice” and “ina diferent voien”as Lie Dunn and Nancy Jones have pointe out expres autonomy, authority and agency that have been denied to women. More apropos to tis volume, the term reflects the many methodologies encountered in feminist music scholarship ‘over the last few decades, In order to understand the elect nature of the contributions inthis book, might be useful to recount the history of this youag eld" 1 tain On Wot and sc : Young wane. you wn my opinion, dractly ‘hort ooh nee mae acy fn por, fee ener halen ep ee ay Ino bate The psa Shape ot You snd youve sever tnd x tou rc ele Ings of dean What oar exe ‘om of Ones Com twat not unt the 3705 that scholars from diferent homaniac dtplines ‘began to come grips with Wools question in aigifiant way Historians ‘ceamined the lies of notable women, literary cites explored the novel sid poetry of women authors andi the eld ofr history, women ples and fealpors were rediscovered, In the world of musi scholarship istoical musicologist began by investigating te lives of women musicias and 1e- Covering thec matic. Ethnomusiologts, in turn, focused on the roles ‘women played in ving musis thoughout the world ‘Mae schol tized the conventional tols of thet rade. For the eth- ‘nomusicologs, i meant employing taditonal feldvork method they con