Beyond the old boys’ club

Not so long ago, anyone arguing that women composers had contributed significantly to classical music had to draw on a short list of names and a handful of evidence.

Then, in 1987, James R. Briscoe published his groundbreaking “Historical Anthology of Music by Women,” and the argument was victorious.

Or, rather, it gained considerable ammunition.

“The battle hasn’t been won yet,” Briscoe says. “A statement still has to be made about the enormous contribution of women to the musical arts and to the arts in general.”

Now, though, Briscoe is back with an expanded version of his book, the “New Historical Anthology of Music by Women” -- published, like its predecessor, by Indiana Press -- and his arsenal has grown.

“The first edition, however pioneering, was a bit rough on the edges,” he says. “There were a number of composers we wanted but who couldn’t be included because the documentation was very rough or the manuscripts were still in Renaissance notation. The scores were too poor to use for reprinting.”

The first book helped launch a spate of scholarly works about female composers, along with a slew of college and conservatory classes.

Thus, the new book -- largely intended as a college text but still useful to general readers -- includes 55 scores by 46 female composers from the ancient Greeks to the present, 10 more than in the original volume. Each work is prefaced by a biographical and critical essay. A three-CD supplement allows immediate hearing.

Familiar names are here -- Hildegard von Bingen, Clara Wieck Schumann, Alma Mahler -- but also many new ones, including Dame Maroie de Diergnau, May Frances Aufderheide, Elsa Barraine, Florence Price, Margaret of Austria and Elisabeth de la Guerre.

“De la Guerre was a favorite of Louis XIV,” Briscoe says, “though strictly artistic, it would seem. She made an important contribution to French culture.”

Some might find it ironic that a man compiled these two editions. Briscoe doesn’t.

“As Simone de Beauvoir wrote in ‘The Second Sex,’ only when both sexes are given their full power can the wholeness of the human couple be discovered,” he says.

“If l long for a wholeness for our society, I think that benefits both men and women. So there’s a kind of selfish end: I want to learn more, be a more complete musician.”

There’s an even more personal reason.

“I have three women in my life, two daughters and a wife, whom I want to have a life capable of full opportunities. Their presence has always formed a power in my life.”

Briscoe points particularly to prejudice as having denied women opportunities.

“The prohibition on publication and performance has done more to squelch women’s production than anything,” he says. “From about 1950, we have seen women break through those prohibitions.”

Still, someone is always asking, if all this is true, why hasn’t there been a female Beethoven?

“Women have been most important for representing their society, more than for setting society on fire,” Briscoe answers. “They are more systemic as creators, rather than coming from outside. I don’t know if it has to do with testosterone. Men are known to be fighters, outside agents. Women show society at its best coming from inside out.

“The question is not quite right. The question should be: Why have women composers done what they’ve done so well? -- which is, worked within the system and created singularly important things from there.”