Woman’s Work in Music is Arthur Elson’s survey of the contributions of women to the art of music, one of the earliest books devoted to the subject. Elson gathers accounts of women as composers, performers, singers, and patrons across the history of Western music.
The book documents the achievements of female musicians at a time when their work was often overlooked, tracing their roles from earlier centuries to the author’s own day. While reflecting the assumptions of its era, it preserves valuable information about many women in music. As a pioneering effort to record women’s place in musical history, the book remains a notable early contribution to the subject.