Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World

  • Author: Paul Sparks

Female composer Clara Ross’ overlooked success

What were the first musical instruments to be regularly played in public concerts by entire orchestras of British women? The answer may surprise you. From the mid-1880s until the First World War, hundreds of “Ladies’ Guitar and Mandolin Bands” flourished throughout Britain, including several consisting entirely of female members of the aristocracy.

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