Filomena Salas, Chilean music critic of the first half of the 20th century: Portrait of an invisibilized woman

Abstract

The history of music criticism is also a history of forgotten women: the persistent and sometimes irreversible erasure of these female figures serves as the motivation for this research on Filomena Salas, a Chilean music critic active during the first half of the twentieth century. She understood her role as that of an authoritative, suggestive, and active voice, who was not only challenged by fellow critics but also by the musical voices of her time. My aim is to portray and understand her various facets: First, Filomena as the mother of composer Juan Orrego Salas, to whom she may have “passed down” the gift of writing. Second, Filomena as a music critic, whose pen served as a weapon in her struggle to be heard and to destabilize the androcentric model. Third, Filomena as a wife, who, paradoxically, married the conservative Domingo Santa Cruz, despite being a feminist and autonomous woman. Domingo may have not only facilitated her entry into the media but also provided her with guidelines on how to write about music. Fourth, Filomena as an ambassador of the Faculty of Fine Arts of the University of Chile in the United States, where she established connections that enabled the dissemination of art music. And fifth, Filomena and her passing: how it impacted the national artistic sphere, her son Juan Orrego Salas, and Domingo Santa Cruz, who, according to testimonies, was unable to cope with her departure.