Women in Music - Are they absent from Western Music History?

Sammanfattning: Are women absent from Western Music History? This is a question of an apparent and easy answer; however, the reality differs. This issue prevails and only started to be discussed more seriously in recent years, since feminism has been a current on-going discussion through the world. In music, circumstances are seemingly slower to evolve still allowing discriminative actions. Through the analysis of historical records and research publications this paper aims to understand the sociological implications and historical events that influenced the outcome of society: how can there still be differences between all genders and how can one change them to transform the classical music world into a fairer and inclusive art form.