From Bohemia to the Balkans : Towards a Socioeconomic History of Itinerant Women Musicians, 1860–1889

Abstract

In recent years, there has been an upsurge of academic publications on the history of women’s work in music. They have, however, remained concentrated on so-called Western art music. In this article, I challenge this paradigm by examining women musicians from the Ore Mountains region in northwestern Bohemia during the late nineteenth century. These women did not have access to conservatoire-level education and made their careers in restaurant orchestras. What were their backgrounds like, and what were the socioeconomic preconditions in this line of work? Methodologically, this research combines microhistory and feminist historical sociology. First, an analysis of the socioeconomic position of musicians in the region is conducted. Second, a case study on Theresia Elster (1848–1866), a flautist, is examined. The source material consists of archival evidence such as estate inventories and vital records. My key argument is that these women musicians should be studied in a sociohistorically nuanced way. On the one hand, musical careers offered women the possibility of climbing up the social ladder. On the other hand, their professional endeavours were limited by patriarchal power structures. Thus, the nexus of social class and gender forms a crucial element that should be further theorised in music historiography.