The hidden history of the women who dared to write music in a man’s world.

‘Lucid, engaging and exuberant... [Sounds and Sweet Airs] is terrifically enjoyable and accessible, and leaves one hankering for a second volume.’ The Sunday Times

Francesca Caccini. Barbara Strozzi. Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. Marianna Martines. Fanny Hensel. Clara Schumann. Lili Boulanger. Elizabeth Maconchy.

Since the birth of classical music, women who dared compose have faced a bitter struggle to be heard. In spite of this, female composers continued to create, inspire and challenge. Yet even today so much of their work languishes unheard.

Anna Beer reveals the highs and lows experienced by eight composers across the centuries, from Renaissance Florence to twentieth-century London, restoring to their rightful place exceptional women whom history has forgotten.

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‘Beer’s writing is lucid, engaging and exuberant, strongly evoking the cultures and atmospheres that surrounded her subjects…the book in general is terrifically enjoyable and accessible, and leaves one hankering for a second volume.’

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‘A meticulously researched, engrossing read, vividly bringing its eight subjects to life. It should appeal not only to music connoisseurs but to anyone interested in social and cultural history – and women’s place in it.’

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‘Such traits, as Beer laments, are still with us…All the more important, then, for excellent books like this one to remind us of what we are all missing’.

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'Offers vivid, colourful context on a situation that is echoed back through the centuries…Readable and wide-ranging, Beer's deft sketches are an elegant introduction to their subjects'.

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'Never less than highly readable'. 

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‘Rewarding…insightful…Beer conveys the sexism and lifelong frustrations some immensely gifted creative artists encountered.’

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'Beer's meticulously researched book is a vital step in the battle to overturn that ultimate injustice'.

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'Beer has an eye for detail, and gives us a vivid sense of the stratagems these gifted, determined women had to employ'. 

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'In this riveting book Anna Beer wades through centuries of prejudice from the fear of women composing at all…to the persistent unwillingness to perform, discuss or distribute their music'.

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''[A] stimulating and engaging book, written with passionate enthusiasm and a light touch'.

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‘I am constantly in search of books that explore the lives of women who have been dismissed or overlooked by history, and this is what makes Anna Beer's latest book a total godsend. Sounds and Sweet Airs is an intoxicating historical examination of the way gender has shaped what we consider to be canonical... Beer’s impassioned overview delves into the hopes, motivations, and struggles each woman faced as she attempted to pursue her vocation while coping with the “boys club” mentality of their respective music communities.’

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‘Books could be written about composers denied a place in the classical canon because of ethnicity or class or religion, but that doesn’t negate the truth and importance of Sounds and Sweet Airs’.

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‘Beer’s snapshot lives of women composers are savvy, sympathetic... [an] essential and insightful study of a woman’s unsung place in the closed world of classical music.’

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‘An engaging read and…contains a powerful and timely message’.

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‘A rich, revealing study of the lives of eight outstanding female composers...Long overdue, this book includes a list of recommended listening for each composer, a glossary of musical terms, and suggestions for further reading.This important work furthers cultural understanding of the history of female composers.’

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‘Both feminist analyst and fluent biographer, Beer makes engrossing and cogent cases for her subjects. She concludes that the proof of their art lies in the hearing and recommends recent recordings.’

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‘Absorbing ... [Beer] writes with rich detail and sympathetic insight about [these women's] ambitious, adventurous battles to overcome barriers to creativity.’

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‘Serious students of music and women's history will want to add this title to their required reading lists.’