this important
thing to remember: We have not the muscle and strength that men have to
resist fatigue. We do things, but we pay the penalty of nervous strain.
When people say that women are equal to men, I always feel that
physically they are not fitted to run the same race. If they accomplish
things, they pay up for it. It is sad, but it is true." Yet probably few
of the noted women composers will subscribe to this opinion.

As yet there has been no woman composer of the very first rank,
comparable to the tonal giants among men. But in explanation of this is
the fact that women have not been generally at work in this field until
the last century, while men have had considerably more time. And after
all, there are not so many really great men among the composers. The
tonal giants, the world-famous men, whose music rises above the fashion
of their time, and lives through changing epochs and changing tastes,
may almost be counted on the fingers of the hands. If no woman has yet
become _prima inter pares_, there are many whose work equals that of the
lesser men, whose names are remembered as forming the different schools
of composition.

Whether woman's work will always be distinctive from men's in character,
time alone can decide. The present writer is inclined to believe that
the difference will be a permanent one,--that even in the larger forms,
woman's work in music will always show more of delicate grace and
refinement than man's, and will be to some extent lacking in the broader
effects of strong feeling. As an example we may cite the works of
Chaminade, which hold the very highest rank in their class. Her songs
are among the most delightful in the world to-day, yet they charm by
delicacy rather than strength, and are different from, if not inferior
to, the creations of a Jensen or a Graedener, to say nothing of the more
dramatic works of Schumann or Schubert. Of course there will be cases
where the two sexes will meet on common ground, and the exquisite beauty
of a Franz may some day find its equal in the work of the other sex, but
whether women will excel _naturally_ in the more virile vein of Bruch's
cantatas, for instance, is open to grave doubt.

Taking the work of women as a whole, there are worthy examples of all
the large forms to be found among their compositions. In the field of
orchestral work, including symphonies, symphonic poems, overtures, and
suites, we find such names as Augusta Holmes, Chaminade,