Sexism and the Vienna Philharmonic

Introduction

It has become clear that the Vienna Philharmonic is practicing willful discrimination against women and minorities. In an age when discrimination has gone underground and subtle (though no less real) this organization stands out for its blatant exclusion of women and minorities. This is all the more alarming for the fact that the Vienna Philharmonic is one of the most respected and venerated group of musicians in their field, touted to stand the test of time. Thus, discrimination at this level must have a trickledown effect. More and more pressure has been put on the prestigious group in order to reinforce the message that condoned discrimination is a relic of a decadent past. As a result the orchestra is slowly changing their practices, and women (not minorities) are beginning to claim their place in this cultural edifice. 

Foundation of Prejudice

The practice of excluding women from equal opportunity has long standing in the orchestral realm. The Vienna Philharmonic was the last orchestra in the world to admit women, “maintaining an all-male membership until as recently as February, 1997. Today, it still has the fewest female musicians of any major classical ensemble” (Lebrecht). Under pressure to explain their reluctance, orchestra leaders claimed “that women with babies would not be suitable for long overseas tours, to arguing that they would destabilize its singular sound” (Lebrecht). The singular sound relates to the fact that all Vienna Philharmonic members are trained in Austria, and the orchestra maintains consistent use of music composed in the region. It has been suggested, “A radical change of personnel might, it is argued, imperil the orchestra’s authority in Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and all the Strausses” (Lebrecht). However, asserting that women trained in the region would disrupt the quality of the performance, and cannot stand up to the master composers challenge has not been ignored. 

The orchestra voted to include women in 1997 only because the social pressure of not doing so was beginning to interfere with the prestige of the organization. The vote, “being a week before the orchestra flew to New York to play the Carnegie Hall. American public opinion, due to the research of conductor and musicologist, William Osborne, was turning against it” (Jackes). The orchestra knew if they did not change their policy at this time they would have been met in New York with hundreds of protestors and ugly press. In desperation to keep face, the orchestra “hastily voted to admit Anna Lelkes, a harpist, and to ensure open auditions would follow. Its then chairman, Werner Resel, resigned shortly afterwards” (Jackes). However, unknown at the time, and still little known is that Anna Lelkes was already playing with the VPO for 26 years, unacknowledged, and paid less. At the time of the vote she was nearing retirement, and offered the safest route to avoid public scrutiny any further (Jackes). Embarrassing to those who are not racist or sexist, but perceived as a brilliant political maneuver to those who remain prejudiced. 

Even after reluctantly and stringently allowing women into the Vienna Philharmonic after 1997, the orchestra continued to flout their nation’s equal opportunity laws. For, “Sex discrimination, however, is against the law. In July 2011, the Austrian government cut VPO funding by 2.29 million euros ($3.03 million) after facing parliamentary objections to its blatant imbalance” (Lebrecht). For the fact of the matter is that out of 126 members of the orchestra, only six are women, and during performances sometimes this number drops to four. As a response to public pressure,

At 11 a.m. on the first day of the year, critics automatically scan the Musikvereinsaal stage to see how many women have been permitted to join the main event. In January 2012, there were just two, an apparent act of defiance against public punition. (Lebrecht)

However, the discrimination continues as the orchestra has other funding from the long line of sexist boy clubs which support its behavior. To the public VPO Chairman Clemens Hellsberg quipped, “In art, you cannot impose quotas” (Lebrecht). This is a common delusion in the world of art, that women cannot cut the mustard.

Currently, two women play in the strings section, much to the chagrin of the male players. As, “In 2003, a string player lamented ‘three women are already too many. By the time we have 20 per cent, the orchestra will be ruined’” (Jackes). It must be very difficult to play in this environment, which is already high stress. In Vienna women amount to 62 percent of the student studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts, “and have done for 20 years with better graduation results than men, so why does the VPO hire 20 times more men and why is the firing rate for women higher?” (Jackes). 

Nazi Roots

The Vienna Philharmonic is well known to have resonated with the Nazi movement. Twenty five of its members were committed Nazi’s before 1938, while nearly half the orchestra joined the party soon after during the road to war. These members were openly hostile to the Jewish members of the orchestra, and

Fifteen players -- Jewish or politically on the left -- were sent to concentration camps. Seven died. In 1966, 21 years after the Nazi defeat, an unrepentant VPO gave its highest honor to Baldur von Schirach, the Vienna Gauleiter in charge of genocide. (Lebrecht)

Vienna is a well-known region for xenophobia, however foreigner in Vienna has the connotation of anyone from beyond the Danube Basin by heritage and decent. As such it is not only women who suffer discrimination but anyone who is not a white male with long ties to the region. Pressure from the government and the public have done very little to change the policies of the orchestra, and as a result of social pressure some foreign members of the orchestra have resigned due to being systematically ostracized;

Last February, two trombonists resigned. Ian Bousefield, the principal, is British. Jeremy Wilson is American. Although each gave personal reasons for his departure, there was no ignoring the congruity: these were the first players in the VPO from English-speaking countries and the atmosphere in their section was described as “hostile.” (Lebrecht)

Systematic discrimination can be overt as well as subtle, and it has been made clear the type of people who are welcome in the Vienna Philharmonic (Ross). While Vienna is a notoriously xenophobic city, the level of discrimination the VPO engages in is a singular example, as another Austrian orchestra, the Bruckner, maintains 35 percent female membership as opposed to the VPO’s two percent (Jackes). While there are many female substitutes, for those who advocate for a female principle are met with the ingrained Patriarchial belief;

‘You cannot have a female principal because if she's hired at 23, you can be guaranteed within 10 years, she'll have to take two years off to have a child, which is an impossible situation for the orchestra’, and an ex-VPO musician snapped: ‘I like women. Just not in the Philharmonic.’ (Jackes)

The most famous VPO performance, the new years’ waltz extravaganza began as a Nazi propaganda stunt, and the lingering resistance to equality does not reflect well on this fact (Daily Mail). 

The Brotherhood

Thusly, even though women are now allowed in the orchestra, it is begrudgingly and as a political tool, which the women must be aware of. The current business director of the VPO and flautist Dieter Flury expresses with little guile the flavor of xenophobia which defines the orchestra;

From the beginning, we have spoken of the special Viennese qualities.... The way we make music here is... something that has a lot to do with the soul. The soul does not let itself be separated from the cultural roots that we have here in central Europe. And it also doesn't allow itself to be separated from gender... Therefore, I am convinced that it is worthwhile to accept this racist and sexist irritation, because something produced by a superficial understanding of human rights would not have the same standards. (Jackes)

While this is an unfortunate belief, it may have real merit for those who hold it. The feeling of solidarity and synergy which people from the same ethnic and gender background share is a real phenomenon of the mind, of shared cultural context, and shared identity. If the VPO did not have such a checkered past with its association with Nazism this “brotherhood” approach may not be so denigrated (Eakin). Expert on the sociology of German-speaking orchestras, William Osborne has contended that in the case of the VPO, “belief in male supremacy was gender bias of the worst sort, rooted in a historical rationale of national identity and cultural purity, and that its exclusionary policy was part of an intolerable racist heritage” (Herman). However, the pressure that Osborne and the International Alliance for Women in music has begun to show fruit in the last few years. 

Currently there are twelve women in the VPO and ten of these have been tenured. The orchestra has found a new way to interpret old traditions, as the means to master the traditional instruments they employ as often passed down from father to child (Service). This improvement can been seen in the recent move of Patricia Koll being made a leader of the second violin section. This is in keeping with VPO tradition as, 

Her father Heinrich is one of the orchestra’s solo violoists. The Vienna Philharmonic has a long tradition of hiring the sons of the orchestra’s members. They feel this helps maintain the orchestra’s performance practices. The Kolls illustrate that father-daughter traditions can exist as well. And perhaps someday, mother-daughter continuities will also be seen. Patricia was seven years old when the protests began twenty years ago. (Herman)

While there are other measures of slow progress of equality for women (not minorities) this example of vetting tradition across gender lines shows that progress is possible for even the most reticent organizations. 

Conclusion

Public pressure and social standards do strongly influence cultural norms, even if it does take a time and effort to maintain its effect. However, this process works for the good and the bad, and it is important to maintain high standards for human rights and social justice. The VPO is slowly coming to grips with the reality that discrimination is no longer accepted.

Works Cited

Daily Mail. “Vienna Philharmonic to admit Jews were driven out of orchestra as it finally lifts the lid on its dark Nazi past.” The Daily Mail, 10 Mar. 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2291219/Vienna-Philharmonic-orchestra-finally-lift-lid-Nazi-past-amid-accusations-cover-up.html

Eakin, Hugh. “Women Are as Scarce as Change at Vienna Orchestra.” The New York Times, 4 Jun. 2003. Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/04/arts/women-are-as-scarce-as-change-at-vienna-orchestra.html

Herman, Jan. “Progress for Women at Vienna Philharmonic.” Art Journal, 1 Jan 2016. Retrieved from: http://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2016/01/progress-for-women-at-vienna-philharmonic.html

Lebrecht, Norman. “Nazi Past, Female Phobia Afflict Vienna Philharmonic.” Bloomberg, 3 Jan 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-01-03/nazi-past-female-phobia-afflict-vienna-philharmonic

Jackes, Jessica. “All white on the night: Why does the world-famous Vienna Philharmonic feature so few women and ethnic minorities?” The Independent, 3 Mar. 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/all-white-on-the-night-why-does-the-world-famous-vienna-philharmonic-feature-so-few-women-and-ethnic-1915666.html

Ross, Alex. “Women, gays, and classical music.” The New Yorker, 3 Oct. 2013. Retrieved from: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/women-gays-and-classical-music

Service, Tom. “Vienna Philharmonic's conservatism has exposed it to unsettling truths.” The Guardian, 11 Mar. 2013. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/mar/11/vienna-philharmonic-history