Contemporary anthology of music by Women Edited by James R. Briscoe

Abstract

Women's music anthologies are not antidotes to men's music anthologies because there are no such things as the latter. That is not to say, however, that men's music does not exist and that it does not appear in anthologies. On the contrary, men's music has been anthologized (though more frequently made into monograph publications) in abundance. It is just that the anthologies in which men's music appears are simply called that: ‘anthology’.¹ So, women's music anthologies, instead, it would seem, are antidotes to music anthologies, because when you encounter a music anthology you invariably find it represents almost exclusively music by men. I have always thought it to be somewhat misleading to use these seemingly innocent, neutral terms, ‘music’ and ‘anthology’, because one expects such terms (much the same as ‘composer’) to connote inclusivity. When it comes to anthologies of music and composers, however, there is, almost without fail, discrimination based on gender. So, the terms are neither innocent nor neutral.