‘I Myself Shall Shape My Destiny’: Alma Mahler-Werfel and the Politics of Gender in the Fin-De-Siècle (And Beyond) (Dr Genevieve Arkle, University of Bristol)

This paper focuses on the life of composer Alma Mahler-Werfel. As well as being a gifted composer, MahlerWerfel was a skilled pianist, writer, draughtswoman, entrepreneur and pioneer of the arts in the 20th century. Yet despite her impact on the musical cultures of Austria, Germany, and the USA, scholarship has chosen instead to focus on her romantic relationships and affairs, framing her as a muse, a femme fatale, a socialite, a seductress. By investigating Mahler-Werfel’s encapsulation of Viennese ‘New Womanhood’ I situate her within the changing landscape of gender politics at the fin-de-siècle before investigating the ways in which she has been disparaged and overlooked in the scholarship of the 20th and 21st centuries. Overall, I aim to discuss Mahler-Werfel not simply as an appendage to the period’s more famous men, but to interrogate her role as a pivotal compositional, professional, and social figure in the 20th century. 

Biography

GENEVIEVE ROBYN ARKLE is a Lecturer in Music at the University of Bristol. Her research explores issues of musical hermeneutics and socio-cultural change in 19th- and 20th-Century Austrian and German music. Her current work examines issues of gender and sexuality in the musical cultures of fin-de siècle Vienna, focusing on Gustav Mahler and Alma Mahler-Werfel. Her recent articles have been published in 19th-Century Music and Music Theory Online and she has been invited to share her work at various international conferences and research seminar series. She is Co-Founder and Deputy Director of the Institute of Austrian and German Music Research and the Gustav Mahler Research Centre Postgraduate Forum, a board member for the EDI in Music Studies Network, and an Affiliate of the Black Opera Research Network. She also enjoys sharing her work outside of academia, and was recently invited to give talks at Longborough Opera Festival, Cheltenham Music Festival, and on NewsTalk Radio’s ‘Talking History’ programme.