Piano Composition And The Role Of Women In Nineteenth Century Europe

Authors

• Khang Nguyen, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Alessio Olivieri, Musicology

Second Advisor

Paul Barnes, Music

Date of this Version

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Citation

Nguyen, Nguyen Khang. "Piano Composition and the Role of Women in Nineteenth Century Europe" (Undergraduate Honors Thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2026.

Comments

Copyright Nguyen Khang Nguyen, 2026.

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, women underwent a social transition, slowly obtaining more employment and educational opportunities. The lives of women piano composers were similar, with their status as women affecting their compositional careers. This thesis explores the connection between piano composition and the role of women in the nineteenth century, with a focus on Western Europe. A brief history of Europe in the nineteenth century will be given, followed by an overview on how music and the music industry were gendered at the time. Then, the lives of Clara Schumann, Fanny Hensel, and Agathe Backer Grøndahl will be analyzed as well as how they maintained their careers as pianists and composers, but also as wives and mothers. Research methods include a mix of primary and secondary sources, such as books, articles, and journals that generally focus on music history and sociomusicology, or the sociology of music. Research results suggest that while marriage and motherhood were major factors affecting the success of these women, their legacy was most affected, with their music becoming overshadowed by the men around them only for it to be rediscovered nearly a century after their deaths despite each of the three composers finding a way towards success in their lives rivaling their male contemporaries in slightly different ways. The information gained from this study serves to bring to light a historical context to the modern issue of women’s representation in classical music.