ARTWORK BY FEMALE COMPOSERS IN PRIMARY MUSIC EDUCATION

Abstract

The female composers’musical pieces are an important but relatively unknown part of the musical and historical heritage. They are also underrepresented in the contemporary musical culture. Children are introduced to works of female composers mainly through the music curriculum in primary schools. This paper presents the research of the Music education textbooks that are in use in primary schools in Croatia. The main aim of the research was to establish the number of compositions by female music composers in the overall number of compositions listed for listening and singing in textbooks, especially the presence of pieces authored by Croatian female composers. We have analyzed 21 textbooks from three Croatian publishing houses. Results show that compositions by male compositors are most often, and then follow traditional compositions, while the compositions of female composers are significantly less present. We propose the revision of the compositions for listening and singing that are included in the Music education textbooks in a way that would enable greater participation of work by both Croatian and other female composers.