Fascinating and informative set of lives - especially the chapter on one of my favourite composers - the incomparable genius Fanny Hensel. ( )

A much-needed reminder that women have created important music. But I need to remember how disappointed I am by most group biographies & stop reading them. Phyllis Rose's Parallel Lives or Shari Benstock's Women of the Left Bank are exceptions; I admire both. Too often, though, as happens here, the author of a group biography gives Reader's Digest-like information on the subjects, having no room for depth. I do think it's the genre that I have problems with, less than this particular book. ( )

This book is made of a suite of musicians, singers and composers' biographies.
It is as much a book about feminism than it is a history book.
Some of the women it describes have talents very similar to those of Madeleine de Scudery in the literary world, the famous author of "Les Femmes Illustres".

Anna Beer makes each biography lively and enthralling. Her style is very engaging and one follows her riveting comments on political changes during the Italian Renaissance in the finance and political power house of Florence under the Medici or when given a rendition of the deliquescent mercantilism of the Republic of Venice in the first quarter of the XVIIth century through the life of Strozzi, or in France during the reign of Louis XIV. It does not so much give us an idea of the type of music composed but it rather reflects on the position of women as artists in a male dominated world with the nuance that while the Medici were in power, women had the financial and the political control and it was then natural they would favor their gender when looking for musical pieces that celebrated it. Music is therefore for Anna Beer as much an instrument of power than it is a component of theatrics in the Churches, in the convents or on Princely or Ducal stages. Needless to say that music in the seafaring Serenissima Republic of Venice was part of the continuous theater of its nautical representations and the reader discovers that throughout Italy very talented women gained their financial independence by composing music.

For the fans of the Canal + TV Serie "Versailles", Ms. Beer's research on composer Élisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre; born Élisabeth Jacquet, 17 March 1665, Paris – 27 June 1729, Paris is different in that though a Court dominated by the male figure of the Sun King, this composer evolves and is entirely dependent on the behind the scene power struggles of the King's female favorites. ( )

For anyone interested in music and/or feminism, this is a must-read. Covering the lives and composition of eight forgotten composers, the author draws clear and compelling portraits of the women and the societies in which they lived.

All eight women have in common the fact that they had to work harder than men, keep their music in the bounds of what was acceptable to society and juggle family obligations. It is both sad and infuriating that even in our "enlightened" days, Clara Schumann is known as someone's wife, and none of the other composers are much remembered at all.

We have a long way to go, baby. ( )

The subject matter of this book is what first drew me; obscure female figures from history are always a win. The author goes into lots of detail of their lives, giving us figures that felt real and that we got to know. However, sometimes the author could go into TOO much detail. I felt I was drowning at times in scene descriptors or tangents that supplemented the women’s stories.

From the introduction, it sounds like the author faced much the same challenges that her subjects did as she researched their lives. Facing down the idea that a woman’s place was under a man and not in the musical world showed through quite clearly, even in the 20th century.

Yet, Beer gives us eight women who didn’t let those attitudes and society stop them from doing what they loves. Faced with family tragedy, pressure to conform, and the vagaries of patron support, each woman shows us the guts it took to face the world down and create.

The amount of detail incorporated into this book was both a blessing and a curse. The author spends a huge amount of time giving us small details into the lives of her subjects: the intimate relations, the dramatic works that launched some of them, honeymoons, romantic letters, and illnesses. All made for vivid reading and creating a connection between these women and the readers.

However, I found that at times the author could get too wordy and detailed with her extras. While they added depth to the women portrayed, sometimes the extras would overpower their story in their vivid glory. The early works that shaped Caccini are a prime example. The various plays and musical events she took part in are relevant, yes, but the amount of them talked about and the abundant details used seemed excessive to me.

Talking about obscure female figures will always be a plus for me, and Beer does a good job in bringing them and their works to life. She provides lots of details in a readable format for those who don’t read non-fiction often. Yet, those details could also sometimes bog down her narrative; I felt like there was padding going on in this book. Still, she always came back to her eight women and their lives. This was an enjoyable read, and I look forward to more.

Note: Book received for free from Library Thing giveaway in exchange for an honest review. ( )