Music 134 - Girl Groups from Medieval to Motown

The term "girl groups" typically refers to the close-harmony all-women pop groups of the 1950s and 1960s. Yet groups like the Andrews Sisters, the Shirelles, and, most famously, the Supremes, represent only one manifestation of a centuries-long musical practice in which groups of young women have sung together, from enslaved women of the medieval Islamic world to the concerto delle donne of Renaissance Italy to Vivaldi's young pupils at the Ospedale della Pietà. For centuries, these groups have enthralled listeners and inspired composers. This course looks at the history of this musical phenomenon, with critical attention to its spaces, reception, and relationships and what they tell us about gender and musicking over time.