During the period ranging between the years 1810 and 1855 in Chile, music compositions written by women almost never circulated in public. On the other hand, during the period ranging between the years 1856 and 1869, eighteen women had their works circulating in public, whereas three other women published their works anonymously. In all, no less than 39 works composed by women were published during this period. The main goal of this article is to explore this process as regards its main features and the causes within the Chilean civil society of the period. Two factors loom large as determinant. One is the developing of systematic education among women of the Chilean
higher class, in which the study of music played a key rôle. The other factor has to do with the developing of music printing and the public distribution of music in Chile as of the decade of the 1850’s, especially among the higher class. Women composers studied in this article are classified into three main groups, according to the subjects revealed or suggested by the titles of the works, the purpose of publishing the music, the relationship of the composers with such other areas of music as teaching and performance, and the assiduity in cultivating composition as revealed by the number of works published in Chile. This process occurs at a time when civil society becomes, as of the mid 19
th century, an independent part of the Chilean society at large.
Keywords:
Chile, civil society, music of the 19 th century, tradition and modernity, women composers
Merino Montero, L. (2010). The Beginnings of Public Circulation of Music Written by Women in Chile. Revista Musical Chilena, 64(213), p. 53 – 76. Retrieved from https://revistamad.uchile.cl/index.php/RMCH/article/view/1716
