One of the earliest and most famous of all girl ensembles belonged to an 'orphanage'* in early eighteenth century Venice. It was led by Antonio Vivaldi, most famous for his "Four Seasons", who composed many of his works for this orchestra.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, both women and men studied classical music performance, and many women successfully completed the curriculum. However, the ranks of most orchestras were closed to them; they had two alternatives: to become teachers or to form their own groups. The latter ranged from small ensembles to full scale symphonic orchestras such as the Cleveland Women's Orchestra, the only one still in existence in America. (It's conductor is a man!) Many will remember Phil Spitalny and his All-Girl Orchestra which performed on NBC radio and was sponsored by General Electric. It had about twenty members.

Prejudice against women in all symphony orchestras was strong in the first half of the twentieth century. 'They have smaller techniques than men." "They are more temperamental." These are among the arguments made to exclude them. The introduction of 'blind auditions' after World War II led to a great increase of women in the world's symphony orchestras. In these, the applicant performs behind a screen so that they can be heard, but their sex and ethnicity is not known. As a result the tradition of all-male orchestras is long gone in most countries. Women constitute about 40% of the members of the National Orchestra of France and of the New York Philharmonic.

However, Germany and Austria are glaring exceptions, especially the renowned Vienna Philharmonic. There discrimination against women and non-Caucasian males continues. Franzi in A Waltz Dream would still have to have her own orchestra. Until recently there was only one woman, the harpist —there are few male harpists. During television shows only her hands were shown, and her name was not in the program. Even now, only a few women have been hired on a probationary basis, and they seldom became full members. Moreover, are sometimes subjected to harassment. This is in spite of the fact that women far outnumber men among the graduates of Vienna's School of Music. For a while blind auditions were tried, but they were abandoned when a successful applicant stepped from behind the screen; he was Japanese! During tours in The United States the Vienna Philharmonic often adds a few women on a temporary basis to overcome American objections to discrimination. Several articles on this situation may be found on http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Philharmonic which has a section on sexism and racism and links to several other articles.

* The 'orphans' were mostly the daughters of Viennese noblemen and their mistresses. Thus the institution was well endowed and able to support an extensive music program.

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Revised July 2009
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