El Principio de Peter... y de Petra (o la imparable ascensión de las mujeres en la música sinfónica) / The Peter... and Petra Principle (or the unstoppable rise of women in symphonic music)

Excerpt from the article published in issue no. 4 of the magazine Hasta el tuétano [To the core]. Madrid, September–October 2020


[... The scant female presence in European musical life in the first quarter of the 20th century is a direct consequence] of the masculinist mentality of the time, since many years would still have to pass before women achieved the same status as men in rights that now seem unquestionable. In France, for example, women's suffrage did not arrive until 1945 -along with Italy and other countries-, whereas in Spain it was established in 1931 with the advent of the Second Republic, only to be interrupted during the Franco dictatorship and not reinstated until 1977. Great Britain was the earliest, in 1918, followed a year later by Germany. In the United States, it was achieved in 1920; and only very recently has it become widespread in Middle Eastern countries (in the United Arab Emirates it was not granted until 2016), nearly a century behind the rest of the world.
This disparity affected not only women's participation in political life, but all spheres of social and cultural life. Thus, it is unsurprising that until quite recently it was considered normal for women to be excluded from many sports and recreational institutions (casinos, clubs, associations, and the like -for example, women were not admitted as members of the Madrid Casino until 1987). Even more striking, however, was that their presence was forbidden -explicitly in some cases, more subtly in others- in ensembles dedicated to music-making, particularly symphonic music. In the photograph illustrating this article, we can see the members of the Madrid Symphony Orchestra alongside their conductor, Enrique Fernández Arbós… and his wife. The picture dates from the mid-1930s, yet the exclusively male presence among the musicians was common in many major orchestras, which only in very recent times -and even then, sparingly- have opened their doors to women.

The most famous example is the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, considered one of Europe's finest and renowned for its annual New Year's Concert broadcast from the Musikverein in Vienna. Founded in 1842, it did not admit women to its ranks until 1997, thanks to which it now has 19 women... and 119 men. Similar figures appear in the equally famous Berlin Philharmonic, which counts 21 women alongside 119 men -despite not being an orchestra with a particularly anti-female tradition.
In Spanish symphony orchestras, the percentage of women is notably higher, ranging from 31% in the Madrid Symphony Orchestra to 39% in the Oviedo Filarmonía. Judging by what is happening in the younger generations, these numbers will rise in the coming years, as musicians currently finishing their studies enter the professional world. For example, the Instrumentalist Pool of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra -whose data I know well, having served as its artistic director for 19 years- has shown the following figures in recent years:
- 2014–2015 (Pool of 276 musicians): 128 women / 148 men
- 2016–2017 (Pool of 251 musicians): 116 women / 135 men
- 2018–2019 (Pool of 275 musicians): 126 women / 149 men
Given that the brass section is still predominantly male, this amounts to absolute parity in the other sections, and even a female majority in many instruments (especially flutes and violas). Moreover, these proportions closely match the current male–female ratios in the student body of higher conservatories of music.
And of course, the unstoppable rise of women in symphonic music is not limited to their presence on the orchestral stage, but also -significantly- to positions of management (artistic, administrative, human resources, communications, etc.). This represents the top rung of the ladder, making it necessary to revise, in a fair and non-sexist manner, the name of the famous principle according to which people who do their job well are promoted to the next, more responsible position, where they are often unprepared and thus reach their maximum level of incompetence.
This principle was formulated in 1969 by Laurence J. Peter, professor of Education at the University of Southern California, and is universally known by the title of the book in which he presented it: The Peter Principle (1). And although it bears the author's surname, Peter in this context has come to mean not the one who formulated it, but the one to whom it applies. Therefore, in today's world, it seems fitting to strip it of its masculinity so that it may apply equally to men and women who are equally incapable of handling a position of responsibility. Let us therefore differentiate and apply the Peter Principle to incompetent men, and the Petra Principle to incompetent women, for the factors that lead to such incompetence apply equally to both sexes.

And those factors, of course, are obvious: ignorance of the job's objectives due to a lack of knowledge and experience; inability to treat one's team fairly, overvaluing flatterers -often the most inept- and sidelining the efficient, thus creating a poor work environment that hinders management; assigning responsibilities to the wrong people out of ignorance of different roles and guided by personal likes or dislikes rather than by the actual aptitudes of workers (another inexhaustible source of needless, gratuitous, and often irreversible "bad vibes"); "Adanism" (I resist using the term "Evism"… and besides, let's face it, Eve wasn't first) or disdain for previous work, coupled with an obsession for "starting from scratch" (although reality usually prevails in the end, this causes significant disruption to morale at the start of new management); inability to delve into the project's philosophy and the criteria for assuming the new role, prioritizing superficial aspects -usually those with social prestige- over the substance; and unjustified expansion of staff as a way to mask one's own inability to carry out the job...
And of course, arrogance, despotism, overbearingness, vanity, nepotism… and all other similar defects equally applicable to both sexes. This article could go on ad infinitum, but I think this sampling is more than enough. Even if not all these factors occur in a single person, the presence of just some of them guarantees failure -failure that does not distinguish between men and women- in fulfilling the role.

(1) Laurence J. Peter & Raymond Hull, The Peter Principle (Why Things Always Go Wrong). William Morrow & Company, Inc. (New York, 1969)