SUBMISSIONS for Sacred Nine Project: Sufferage [sic]
or, music to, for, and about women, then and now
Monday, December 6, 2021, 7:30 PM, Dixon Hall, Tulane

One of the missions of Sacred Nine Project is to identify problematic aspects of early American vocal and choral music and challenge our audiences (and ourselves) not to gloat; yes, the troubling texts like the ones we resurrect are dead and buried, but their core message is more alive and well than we would like to admit.

In my hours of perusing sheet music from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, I am always struck by the various ways women are portrayed.  They are often objectified as dolls.  If they want to vote, they are trying to “wear the pants.”  If they dress too ostentatiously, they are belittled.  If they hold an admirer in thrall, they are “witchy.” However, even today it isn’t difficult to see how far we still have to go.  A quick search of the “22 Convention” or “Make Women Great Again” will show a recent conference (and plans for more) of mainly male speakers trying to teach women that they are less than.  But of course, we don’t have to resort to such extreme examples; daily one can observe people or institutions attempting to undermine the autonomy of women.  

In Sacred Nine Project: Sufferage [sic] we will present two time capsules.  The first will be a performance of 100-year-old songs written to, for, and about women.  With a sampling of these pieces, we can see the issues facing women at that time, and how women were regarded.  This enjoyable but quite outmoded music is a gentle invitation to present an opposing time capsule made up of new verse, freshly set to music, that honors women, including transgender, non-binary, and Women of Color.  How would we want citizens 100 years from now to assess the thoughtfulness of our songs? 

Call for Poetry 

“To women”: This poem might take the form of an ode, serenade, or sonnet, though the poetic form is left to your discretion.  This offering will be in the second person, speaking directly to a lover or friend.

 A possible excerpt of “to women,” from the first part of the concert:
“Linger Not, Darling,” 1863.

 Linger not, darling, away from thy sleep;
Sweetly the star of Love shines o’er the deep.
Fairy-winged zephyrs have gone to their rest,
Kissing good night to the birds in their nest.

 “For women”: The earlier counterpart for this poem in the concert will be suffrage songs.  The aim is to create a present-day reform/protest song.  Any current issue facing women that the submitter deems important is important to us, even if the topic eludes traditional notions of gender.  Because we want to invoke the rousing pleas present in the suffrage song, we prefer a fixed meter and rhyme scheme; however, if those strictures render the poem less effective, we are open to a freer submission.

 A possible excerpt of “for women,” from the first part of the concert:
“The Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man,” 1868.

 For the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man,
With universal suffrage is spreading through the land.
For the Fatherhood of God, and the Brotherhood of Man,
Well talk and sing while on the wing, and ring it through the land.

 “About women”: This poem should be satirical, light, or unromantic.  It can be respectfully playful about the today’s zeitgeist around women and gender.  The earlier counterpart for this category will be the novelty song.

 A possible excerpt of “about women,” from the first part of the concert:
“When Pigs Begin to Fly,” no date given, probably late nineteenth-century

 The force of folly and of fashion could no further go;
You must confess that ladies’ dress at present is a show.
With ruffs, puffs, cuffs, and muffs, and stuffs Dame Nature they defy.
I do believe they’ll dress like Eve when pigs begin to fly.

 The guides given in each category may be viewed as an entrée to the creative process.  We look forward to reading your work!