Dames in majeur

Abstract

This PhD dissertation aims to gain a better understanding of female music patronage during the time of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (1579-1795). A problematic aspect of a historical study of women in the Republic is their low visibility in historical sources. It is known from surrounding countries that such patronage in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries can be related in particular to princely courts; however, these were not present in the Republic, except for a single court of a royal exile. Here were Stadtholders with some regal allure, nobility and merchants who amassed their wealth in the ‘Golden Age’. This study focuses on women who, being music lovers, donated money and / or offered protection to musicians, arising from other than economic motives. In order to get an idea of the extent of female music patronage in the Republic and to find out the names of (possible) female music patrons, an inventory is presented based on literature research, donated or restored organs, commissioned scores and possibly donated bells and chimes. Within the organ research, almost all instruments from the Dutch Republic have been reviewed. It appears that women had a considerable share in the (co-)donation or renovation of an organ. The search for assignments in scores yielded at least 34 scores containing an assignment to a total of seven stadholder and royal women. More than 50 scores were dedicated to other wealthy and / or noble women. The research on donated chimes has resulted in only one example of such an instrument donated by a noble couple. In the Republic, the same forms of female music patronage as abroad appear to have taken place, but on a more modest scale. Patronage was mainly associated with the Stadtholder / princess courts, the cities of Amsterdam and The Hague, and wealthy women and nobility who lived in country houses in the Republic. There is no doubt that Stadtholder / princely women were an important stimulus for musical life; specifically, two case studies further elaborate on the importance of Elizabeth Stuart (1595-1662) and Anna of Hanover (1709-1759) in this regard. Patronage increased the visibility of women, for example through texts and heraldry on organ cases, printed dedication speeches, commission texts on scores, and their names on subscription lists. Their status, and that of the composer, was thereby confirmed. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, women were not expected to step into the foreground. Patronage was thus a form of presentation. This study shows that women from the higher circles had a remarkable share in the musical life of the Republic through their patronage.