'Ladies not eligible'? Elizabeth Stirling and the musical life of female organists in nineteenth-century London (England)

Female organists of nineteenth-century England deserve the attention of scholars and musicians in part for their unique association with the church. In expanding their role beyond the "private" skills of playing the keyboard to the semi-public sphere of the church, these women transcended the prescriptive boundaries to which they were metaphorically confined. This dissertation uses the exceptional career of Elizabeth Stirling (1819--1895) as a case study in the opportunities afforded to and constraints faced by female organists in nineteenth-century London. The three major facets of an organist's career---as recitalist, as church musician, and as composer---provide the framework within which to examine the activities of these women. A number of sources are used to piece together a coherent picture of Stirling and her female colleagues in each of these pursuits, including nineteenth-century newspapers and journals, public and parish records, London church guides, contemporary fiction, and published music. What emerges is a pattern of both overt and covert discrimination against "lady organists" in the press, rooted in beliefs held about the proper role of women in society and of music in women's lives. Female organists could not escape the novelty status that marked their recitals. They were declared ineligible to compete for organist positions in some churches. And they were subjected to a double standard of sexual aesthetics as composers. Yet through her determination to succeed and perseverance in the task, Stirling became a well-known name in the organ world and served as a trailblazer for hundreds of young women who aspired to careers as organists in nineteenth-century London.