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Abstract
This dissertation examines music making among female amateur pianists in Britain between 1780 and 1820. By looking at repertoire that amateur women pianists studied, as well as circumstances of their musical educations and characteristics of their performances, I argue that women pianists had a significant impact on the history of keyboard writing and performance. In particular, they altered notions of keyboard virtuosity.
My dissertation begins by establishing the cultural stipulations surrounding music making as a feminine accomplishment. To paint an accurate portrait of the period, I draw heavily on period sources such as diaries, musical notebooks, and Georgian-era novels. These sources suggest that while late Georgian culture sought to temper female enthusiasm for music, the practice of amateur musicking eluded these strict stipulations. In their study of both keyboard etudes and battle pieces, for instance, women pursued a high degree of technical proficiency. Similarly, while music making was often associated with the rituals of courtship, women claimed erotic agency in their musical pursuits. I end by tracing the habits of female performers of the late Georgian era into the future, finding aspects of their performance practices in the keyboard works of Franz Liszt.
