There is a long history of women being overlooked by a patriarchy-dominated society, and often men dismiss their female counterparts contributions to a field. Yet, some trailblazing female composers forged their path in a male-dominated field. Discover eight women composers who made important contributions to the history of music.1. Kassia (810-ca. 865 CE)Kassia is one of the most important and oldest-known female composers whose works we can still listen to and study today. Yet, because of her gender, her male contemporaries did not take her seriously at first. Eventually, men realized they were wrong to dismiss her as a hymnographer and acknowledged her gift and encouraged her to compose hymns lofty enough to suit the occasion.Kassia was born into a noble family around 810 in the Byzantine Empire. Because of her high status, she was instructed in Christian theology, Greek literature, philosophy, reading, and writing.But, because Kassia did not become royalty, she could follow her dreams to serve the church. She founded a convent in Constantinople in 843 and became its first abbess. She drew on her education and wrote hymns and poetry for religious and secular occasions.Kassia often wrote her music in the second or fourth Byzantine church modes and used text painting where the music paints a picture of the words. Her melodies are considered concise and syllabic (Braeden Weyhrich).2. Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)Hildegard von Bingen, also known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a medieval nun and abbess who was more than just a trailblazing composer. She was also a botanist, medical healer, mystic, polymath, poet, and writer.Hildegard believed in a holistic approach to healing. The body could be healed through medicinal herbs, diet, and care. The body (and soul) needed music to heal, too. From her pen flowed over 70 compositions collected in a cycle called Symphonia armoniae celestium revelationum. The Symphonia is a collection of sequences of responsories, hymns, and antiphons.Hildegards trailblazing compositions reflect not only the evolution of the high medieval chant but also go beyond it. Her music is filled with melismathe singing of a vowel, word, or part of a word over multiple notes. Another feature of her compositional style is the use of recurring melodic units that bring a sense of order and unity to her music.Her music is the epitome of monophonywhen a single, unaccompanied melodic line is used. A single instrument or multiple instruments (or a singer/singers) will perform the same music without variation or improvisation. Yet, her melodies soar beyond the confines of traditional Gregorian chant and can be distinguished from the usual monophonic monastic chant.She is also credited with composing one of the first surviving medieval morality plays, Ordo Virtutum (Order of the Virtues). Hildegard used 82 melodies, and all the parts are sung in plainchant apart from the Devil who recites or screams their part. This work is the first medieval one that has music and spoken parts distinctly mentioned in the play.3. Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbttel (1739-1807)Being the sister of Frederick II (Frederick the Great) does come with some privileges and perks. Her childhood was filled with excellent schooling and cultural events, but she was destined for the role of mother and wife when she married Carl August of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. Even worse, her husband passed away after two years of married life and she inherited the neglected court in Weimar.Yet, under her guidance and management, she pulled Weimar out of its financial misery, established a library filled with over 600 musical works by notable composers such as JS Bach, and financed the University of Jena.Her business acumen allowed her to turn Weimars misery into fortuneby the time her sons were ready to rule, it was a financially secure cultural center.It is said that Anna Amalia described herself as a perfectionist yet timid person. Few of her works have survived and she may have destroyed some of her works due to her self-critical nature.Her criticism also extended to other composers, and she was not shy about sharing her views with those in her inner circle. She was quite taken with Carl Philip Emmanuel Bachs (one of JS Bachs sons) Empfindsamer Stil (sensitive style) and the emerging Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) movements that would later flow into the Romantic era. Her Flute Sonata in F Major (showcased above) and the overture to her opera Erwin und Elmire, with a libretto based on a text by Goethe, showcase elements of these two prevailing styles from the Classical Era.Although Anna Amalia achieved modest fame for her works, she was a trailblazing female composer who used her privilege for the cultural good of her constituents and the arts.4. Florence Price (1887-1953)The Chicago Daily News wrote the following about a new piece: a faultless work, a work that speaks its own message with restraint and yet with passion worthy of a place in the regular symphonic repertoire. This review was published on June 15, 1933, about Symphony in E minor which won first place in the Wanamaker Foundation Awards. The winner was Black. She was a woman. She was the composer Florence Beatrice Price.Florences mother, a music teacher herself, recognized her daughters talent early on and encouraged her music. She went on to study piano and organ at the New England Conservatory of Music where she graduated with honors. By 1910, she was the head of music at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia. In 1912, she married Thomas J Price and moved back to her hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, Unfortunately, racial tensions flared up in the city and the family moved to Chicago in 1927.After moving to Chicago Florence continued her studies in composition at the American Conservatory and Chicago Musical College.Florence was deeply religious and influences from the African American church rubbed shoulders with European Romantic composers like Dvok and Tchaikovsky, among others in her music. There are also glimmers of her southern roots and elements of the Harlem Renaissance present in her work.5. Nadia Boulanger (1887-1979)Nadia (standing) and Lili (seated) Boulanger in 1913. Source: Center International Nadia et Lili BoulangerFew people have trodden such deep tracks in the history of music, such as the talented Boulanger sisters.Imagine being hailed as one of the best compositional teachers in the world who shaped the futures of many of the 20th centurys greatest composers. Well, that is Nadia Boulanger.Her family had a two-generation association with the Paris Conservatory, starting with her father, Ernest Boulanger, who recognized her gift for music at an early age. At the young age of ten, she entered the Conservatory. She took composition lessons with Gabriel Faur, harmony lessons from Paul Vidal, and studied the organ with Charles-Marie Widor. She taught composition at the Conservatory like her father and privately.After the death of her sister, Lili Boulanger, Nadia vowed never to compose again. Instead, she turned her attention to pedagogy. Her teaching philosophy focused on helping composers find their voice rather than being a pedantic instructor who hammered the rules of music home. Teaching was Nadias way of honoring her departed sisters legacy.Some composers who passed through her hands include Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass, Quincy Jones, Astor Piazzolla, and Aaron Copland, to name a few.Nadia was also the first woman to conduct the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, and the first to conduct the Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, and Washington National Symphony Orchestra while staying in the USA during World War II.Nadia is credited with the revival of Claudio Monteverdis works but also championed works by her lifelong friend Igor Stravinsky and composers like Gabriel Faur and Lennox Berkeley. She also gave touring lecture-recitals on the works of Monteverdi and Heinrich Schtz.6. Lili Boulanger (1893-1918)Nadias younger sister, Lili Boulanger was a composer in her own right, but fate was unkind towards hershe contracted bronchial pneumonia at the tender age of two. Nadia would become a champion of Lilis works after she died of intestinal tuberculosis at 25.Lili became the first woman to win the prestigious Prix de Rome prize in 1913 for her Cantata Faust et Hlne (showcased above) at the age of 20. Of course, the judges were not overjoyed because a woman won, so the first place was also awarded to Claude Delvincourt. She was the same age as her father when he won the prize. The prize included a years study in Rome with all expenses covered.Lilis studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War I (1914) and when she returned to Rome in 1916, her health was failing quickly. She was forced to return to Paris again where she concentrated on finishing the compositions she began in Rome.Ultimately, Lilis life was cut short at 25, but she left behind rich and complex compositions that shaped the 20th century.The Boulanger sisters were each composers in their own rights who shaped the course of 20th-century music and paved the way for many more women composers following in their footsteps.7. Wendy Carlos (1939-)Many refer to Wendy Carlos as the Mother of the Moog and the Godmother of Electronic Music and in many ways, she is an outstanding female musician everybody should know about.Born November 14, 1939, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Wendy was born as a biological man, formerly known as Walter. She started her transition journey in 1969 after experiencing years of gender dysphoria. She came out as a transgender woman during an interview with Playboy Magazine in 1979. The public seemed tolerant or even indifferent toward the news.Her album, Switched-On Bach, paved the way for the Moog analog synthesizerskyrocketing electronic music into the mainstream. Wendy and Bob Moog, the inventor of the Moog synthesizer, worked together on his design. Luckily, Bob took many of Wendys recommendations to heart, like the portamento control, a touch-sensitive keyboard, and a filter bank.Wendy believes that electronic music is not a new kind of music, just a different kind of music.Her Grammy-winning Switched-on Bach reinterpreted some of JS Bachs music on a Moog synthesizer. It showcased the synthesizer as a worthy musical instrument and not just an instrument college professors use in labs to make strange robot noises.Other notable works include her collaboration with Weird Al Yankovich as narrator. Peter and the Wolf A Performance Parody and Carnival of the Animals Part Two (starting at 31:52) are two examples. Wendy does not like her music to be on streaming platforms like YouTube and Spotifyso you will have to discover her music on CDs and vinylwhich is part of the thrill of discovering one of electronic musics pioneers!8. Lisa Gerrard (1961-)With a dramatic contralto voice spanning three octaves, Lisa Gerrard has a unique singing style technique known as glossolalia. Furthermore, a prime example of her unique and invented language, known as idioglossia, can be heard on the Gladiator soundtrack co-composed with Hans Zimmer. Apart from her involvement in the band, Dead Can Dance as a co-composer alongside Brendan Perry, she is also a producer and accomplished sound engineer in her own right.Her first solo album, The Mirror Pool, accompanied by the Victorian Philharmonic Orchestra, saw the light in 1995. She describes the album and title as follows:If you read about African music, they believe that during the process of making this music, you come into contact with spirits from another plane They say that this place is like a mirror of the world we live in, and that when we sing or play music, we are given this information as preparation for where were going I [Gerrard] feel that music permits you to come into contact with your deepest feelings With the best music, you dont find the composer or the musicians within the work, you find yourself, your own feelings (Gerrard cited by Bogle, 1995)Many of the characteristics like otherworldliness, darkwave, and World Music as found in Dead Can Dance are also found in Lisa Gerrards music. Some of Lisa Gerrards film scores include The Whale Rider (2003), Oranges and Sunshine (2010), and the theme song to the 49th NHK Taiga drama, Rymaden (2010).Final ThoughtsSaint Cecilia, by Artemisia Gentileschi, 1620. Source: Wikimedia CommonsThroughout history, men have feared and objectified women but always found a way to sweep their achievements under the rug. Debbie Felton writes that in classical Greek and Roman myths, the conquerors are always men who overcome mostly female monsters because men feared womens destructive potential. The myths then, to a certain extent, fulfill a male fantasy of conquering and controlling the female (Felton, 2012). We can extend this to all parts of life and historythe patriarchy has assigned women their roles and decided they should be happy with household administration, raising children, and being doting wives.Often, the historical record also downplays or outright excludes womens achievements through purposeful censorship or omission. Unfortunately, history is no exception. Even when we take the prejudices out of the equation, history is written by the victor (men), and some (women) pass through with luck.The Concert, by Johannes Vermeer, ca. 1664. Source: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, MAThe select female composers who made it into the history books are the lucky ones. They stood their ground and refused to bow their knee to a patriarchal society and forged their own paths. Thankfully, there are projects like Music By Women that shine a spotlight on female composers and theorists giving them their due!