Editing Composer (section)

==Role in the Western world==
===Relationship with performers===
In the development of European [[classical music]], the function of composing music initially did not have much greater importance than that of performing it.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} The preservation of individual compositions did not receive enormous attention and musicians generally had no qualms about modifying compositions for performance.

In the Western world, before the [[Romantic music|Romantic period]] of the 19th century, composition almost always went side by side with a combination of either singing, instructing and [[music theory|theorizing]].{{sfn|Everist|2011|p=2}}

Even in a conventional Western piece of instrumental music, in which all of the [[Melody|melodies]], [[Chord (music)|chords]], and [[bassline]]s are written out in musical notation, the performer has a degree of latitude to add artistic interpretation to the work, by such means as by varying their articulation and [[Musical phrasing|phrasing]], choosing how long to make [[fermata]]s (held notes) or pauses, and — in the case of bowed string instruments, woodwinds or brass instruments — deciding whether to use expressive effects such as [[vibrato]] or [[portamento]]. For a singer or instrumental performer, the process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated is termed "interpretation". Different performers' interpretations of the same work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen and the playing or singing style or phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who present their music are interpreting, just as much as those who perform the music of others. The standard body of choices and techniques present at a given time and a given place is referred to as [[Historically informed performance|performance practice]], whereas interpretation is generally used to mean the individual choices of a performer. {{Citation needed|date=September 2015}}

Although a [[musical composition]] often has a single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in [[popular music]] when a band collaborates to write a song, or in [[musical theatre]], where the songs may be written by one person, the [[orchestration]] of the accompaniment parts and writing of the [[overture]] is done by an orchestrator, and the words may be written by a third person.

A piece of music can also be composed with words, images, or, in the 20th and 21st centuries, computer programs that explain or notate how the singer or musician should create musical sounds. Examples of this range from [[wind chimes]] jingling in a breeze, to avant-garde music from the 20th century that uses [[graphic notation (music)|graphic notation]], to text compositions such as ''[[Aus den Sieben Tagen]]'', to computer programs that select sounds for musical pieces. Music that makes heavy use of randomness and chance is called [[aleatoric music]], and is associated with contemporary composers active in the 20th century, such as [[John Cage]], [[Morton Feldman]], and [[Witold Lutosławski]].

The nature and means of individual variation of the music are varied, depending on the musical culture in the country and the time period it was written. For instance, music composed in the [[Baroque music|Baroque era]], particularly in slow tempos, often was written in bare outline, with the expectation that the performer would add improvised [[ornamentation (music)|ornaments]] to the melody line during a performance. Such freedom generally diminished in later eras, correlating with the increased use by composers of more detailed scoring in the form of dynamics, articulation et cetera; composers became uniformly more explicit in how they wished their music to be interpreted, although how strictly and minutely these are dictated varies from one composer to another. Because of this trend of composers becoming increasingly specific and detailed in their instructions to the performer, a culture eventually developed whereby faithfulness to the composer's written intention came to be highly valued (see, for example, [[Urtext edition]]). This musical culture is almost certainly related to the high esteem (bordering on veneration) in which the leading classical composers are often held by performers.

The [[historically informed performance]] movement has revived to some extent the possibility of the performer elaborating seriously the music as given in the score, particularly for [[Baroque music]] and music from the early [[Classical period (music)|Classical period]]. The movement might be considered a way of creating ''greater'' faithfulness to the original in works composed at a time that expected performers to [[Musical improvisation|improvise]]. In genres other than classical music, the performer generally has more freedom; thus for instance when a performer of Western popular music creates a "cover" of an earlier song, there is little expectation of exact rendition of the original; nor is exact faithfulness necessarily highly valued (with the possible exception of "note-for-note" transcriptions of famous [[guitar solo]]s).

In Western art music, the composer typically [[orchestration|orchestrates]] their compositions, but in musical theatre and pop music, songwriters may hire an [[arranger]] to do the orchestration. In some cases, a pop songwriter may not use notation at all, and, instead, compose the song in their mind and then play or record it from memory. In jazz and popular music, notable recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written scores play in classical music. The study of composition has traditionally been dominated by the examination of methods and practice of Western classical music, but the definition of composition is broad enough for the creation of popular and traditional music songs and instrumental pieces and to include spontaneously improvised works like those of [[free jazz]] performers and African percussionists such as [[Ewe drumming|Ewe drummers]].

===History of employment===
During the Middle Ages, most composers worked for the [[Catholic church]] and composed music for religious services such as [[plainchant]] melodies. During the [[Renaissance music]] era, composers typically worked for aristocratic employers. While aristocrats typically required composers to produce a significant amount of religious music, such as [[Mass (music)|Mass]]es, composers also penned many non-religious songs on the topic of [[courtly love]]: the respectful, reverential love of a great woman from afar. Courtly love songs were very popular during the Renaissance era. During the [[Baroque music]] era, many composers were employed by aristocrats or as church employees. During the [[Classical period (music)|Classical period]], composers began to organize more public concerts for profit, which helped composers to be less dependent on aristocratic or church jobs. This trend continued in the [[Romantic music]] era in the 19th century. In the 20th century, composers began to seek employment as professors in universities and conservatories. In the 20th century, composers also earned money from the sales of their works, such as [[sheet music]] publications of their songs or pieces or as [[sound recording]]s of their works.{{citation needed |date=May 2024}}

===Role of women===
{{Main article|Women in music#Composers|List of female composers by birth date}}
[[File:Julius Giere - Clara Wieck im Alter von 15 Jahren (Lithographie 1835).jpg|thumb|upright|Nineteenth-century composer and pianist [[Clara Schumann]]]]

In 1993, American [[musicologist]] [[Marcia Citron]] asked, "Why is music composed by women so marginal to the standard 'classical' repertoire?"<ref name="Citron, Marcia J 1993">{{cite book|last=Citron|first=Marcia J.|author-link=Marcia Citron|title=Gender and the Musical Canon|publisher=[[CUP Archive]]|year=1993|isbn=9780521392921}}</ref> Citron "examines the practices and attitudes that have led to the exclusion of women composers from the received '[[Western canon|canon]]' of performed musical works." She argues that in the 1800s, women composers typically wrote [[art song]]s for performance in small recitals rather than [[symphony|symphonies]] intended for performance with an orchestra in a large hall, with the latter works being seen as the most important genre for composers; since women composers did not write many symphonies, they were deemed to be not notable as composers.<ref name="Citron, Marcia J 1993" />

According to Abbey Philips, "women musicians have had a very difficult time breaking through and getting the credit they deserve."<ref name="rvanews.com">{{cite web |last=Philips |first=Abbey |url=http://rvanews.com/features/spacebomb-truth-lies-somewhere-in-between/49992 |title=The history of women and gender roles in music |website=Rvanews.com |date=1 September 2011 |access-date=20 January 2016}}</ref> During the Medieval eras, most of the art music was created for liturgical (religious) purposes and due to the views about the roles of women that were held by religious leaders, few women composed this type of music, with the nun [[Hildegard von Bingen]] being among the exceptions. Most university textbooks on the history of music discuss almost exclusively the role of male composers. As well, very few works by women composers are part of the standard repertoire of classical music. In ''Concise Oxford History of Music'', "[[Clara Schumann|Clara Shumann]]{{sic}} is one of the only female composers mentioned",<ref name="rvanews.com" /> but other notable women composers of the common practice period include [[Fanny Mendelssohn]] and [[Cécile Chaminade]], and arguably the most influential teacher of composers during the mid-20th century was [[Nadia Boulanger]].{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Philips states that "[d]uring the 20th century the women who were composing/playing gained far less attention than their male counterparts."<ref name="rvanews.com" />

Women today are being taken more seriously in the realm of concert music, though the statistics of recognition, prizes, employment, and overall opportunities are still biased toward men.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wqxr.org/story/her-music-emerging-female-composer-today/|publisher=[[WQXR-FM|WQXR]]|title=Her Music: Today's Emerging Female Composer|author=Alex Ambrose|date=21 August 2014|access-date=13 April 2020}}</ref>