Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended to be marginalised as a "woman composer", as though her work could not be accepted as mainstream. Yet when she produced more delicate compositions, they were criticised for not measuring up to the standard of her male peers. She was the first female composer granted a damehood.

Family background

Ethel Smyth was born in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. It was ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, which is now in the London Borough of Bexley, on 22 April 1858, the fourth of eight children. While 22 April is the actual date of her birth, Smyth habitually stated it was 23 April, the day that was celebrated by her family, as they enjoyed the coincidence with

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's.Collins. Fuller. Music & History. Her father, John Hall Smyth, who was a major general in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, was very much opposed to her making a career in music.Gates (2013), pp. 1 – 9 She lived at Frimhurst, near

Frimley Green Frimley Green is a large village and wards of the United Kingdom, ward of in the borough of Surrey Heath, in Surrey, England. It lies south of the town of Frimley and south-west of central London. Lakeside Leisure Complex, Lakeside Countr ...

Jebens and Cansdale, p. 4 for many years, before moving to Hook Heath on the outskirts of

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

. Her youngest brother was Robert ("Bob") Napier Smyth (1868–1947), who rose to become a Brigadier in the British Army.

Musical career

Smyth was a child prodigy. She was a stellar pianist at a very young age and was able to compose her first hymn by the age of 10. She decided to study music at the age of 12. Smyth first studied with Alexander Ewing when she was 17. He introduced her to the music of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

and Berlioz. After a major battle with her father about her plans to devote her life to music, Smyth was allowed to advance her musical education at the

Leipzig Conservatory The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest music ...

, where she studied Brahmsian musical composition with Carl Reinecke. She left after a year, however, disillusioned with the low standard of teaching, and continued her music studies privately with Heinrich von Herzogenberg. While at the Leipzig Conservatory, Smyth met Dvořák,

Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of N ...

and Tchaikovsky. Through Herzogenberg, she also met Clara Schumann and Brahms. Upon her return to England, Smyth formed a supportive friendship with

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

in the last years of his life; he respected her and encouraged her work. John Singer Sargent Dame Ethel Smyth

Smyth's extensive body of work includes the Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra and the Mass in D. It was the latter's performance in London's Albert Hall in 1893 that helped her gain recognition as a serious composer. Her opera '' The Wreckers'' is considered by some critics to be the "most important English opera composed during the period between Purcell and Britten". Her best known work, she composed it to a French libretto by Henry Brewster. It premiered in 1906. In 2022 it received its first professional production in its original French text at the

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

. It was also performed at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

, where its prelude or overture was presented 27 times between 1913 and 1947. Another of her operas, '' Der Wald'', mounted in 1903, was, for more than a century, the only opera by a woman composer ever produced at New York's

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

(until Kaija Saariaho's '' L'Amour de loin'' in December 2016). On 28 May 1928, the nascent

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

broadcast two concerts of Smyth's music, marking her "musical jubilee", The first comprised chamber music, the second, conducted by Smyth herself, choral works. Otherwise, recognition in England came somewhat late for Smyth, wrote the conductor Leon Botstein at the time he conducted the American Symphony Orchestra's US premiere of ''The Wreckers'' in New York on 30 September 2007: After her release from prison, Smyth composed her final major work, the hour-long vocal symphony ''The Prison'', setting a text by Henry Bennett Brewster. It was first performed in 1931. The first recording was issued by Chandos in 2020. Smyth’s composing and conducting career came to a premature end before the 1920s as she started to develop hearing loss, which eventually led to her becoming completely dea

However, she found a new interest in literature and, between 1919 and 1940, she published ten highly successful, mostly autobiographical, books.

Critical reception

Overall, critical reaction to her work was mixed. She was alternately praised and panned for writing music that was considered too masculine for a "lady composer", as critics called her. Though Smyth’s four movement Serenade earned her orchestral and public debut in England, she had to use the pseudonym E.M. Smith to avoid biased criticism. Eugene Gates writes that:

Smyth's music was seldom evaluated as simply the work of a composer among composers, but as that of a "woman composer". This worked to keep her on the margins of the profession, and, coupled with the double standard of sexual aesthetics, also placed her in a double bind. On the one hand, when she composed powerful, rhythmically vital music, it was said that her work lacked feminine charm; on the other, when she produced delicate, melodious compositions, she was accused of not measuring up to the artistic standards of her male colleagues.Gates (2006), "Damned If You Do and Damned If You Don't", ''Kapralova Society Journal''.

Other critics were more favourable: "The composer is a learned musician: it is learning which gives her the power to express her natural inborn sense of humour... Dr. Smyth knows her Mozart and her Sullivan: she has learned how to write conversations in music... /nowiki>The Boatswain's Mate">The_Boatswain's_Mate.html" ;"title="/nowiki>The Boatswain's Mate">/nowiki>The Boatswain's Mate/nowiki> is one of the merriest, most tuneful, and most delightful comic operas ever put on the stage."

Involvement with the suffrage movement

In 1910, Smyth joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), which agitated for

, giving up music for two years to devote herself to the cause. Smyth argued in her memoirs that the disadvantages that women face in music stem from the lack of a political vote or voice. She developed a very close relationship with the charismatic leader of the WSPU,

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (; Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win in 1918 the women's suffrage, right to vote in United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

, and accompanied her on many occasions. Soon after, Smyth composed her most famous, "The March of the Women" (1911) to words by Cicely Hamilton. The text was used to inspire women to unite and free themselves from patriarchal rule. This eventually became the anthem of the WSPU and the

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

movement. Smyth is credited with teaching Emmeline Pankhurst how to throw stones in 1912. After further practice aiming stones at trees near the home of fellow suffragette Zelie Emerson, Pankhurst called on WSPU members to break a window of the house of any politician who opposed votes for women. Smyth was one of the 109 members who responded to Pankhurst's call, asking to be sent to attack the home of Colonial Secretary Lewis Harcourt, who had remarked that if his wife's beauty and wisdom was present in all women, they would have already won the vote. Smyth stood half the bail for Helen Craggs, who had been caught on the way to carry out the arson of the leading politician's home. During the stone-throwing, Pankhurst and 100 other women were arrested, and Smyth served two months in Holloway Prison.Abromeit, Kathleen A.
"Ethel Smyth, ''The Wreckers'', and Sir Thomas Beecham"
''The Musical Quarterly'', Vol. 73, issue 2, 1989, pp. 196–211. By subscription or payment on JSTOR When Thomas Beecham, her proponent-friend, went to visit her there, he found suffragettes marching in the quadrangle and singing, as Smyth leaned out of a window conducting the song with a toothbrush. In her book, ''Female Pipings in Eden'', Smyth said her prison experience was of being "in good company" of united women "old, young, rich, poor, strong, delicate", putting the cause they were imprisoned for before their personal needs. Smyth revealed that the prison was infested with cockroaches, even in the hospital ward. She was released early, due to a medical assessment that she was mentally unstable and hysterical. Smyth gave written evidence in the November trial of Pankhurst and others for inciting violence, stating that she (Smyth) had freely engaged in activism. She continued to correspond with Pankhurst, and heard of her getting lost trying to find the safe house provided for her to avoid re-arrest in Scotland. Smyth strongly disagreed with the support Pankhurst and her daughter Christabel gave to the war effort in 1914, but she did train as a

radiographer Radiographers, also known as radiology technologists, radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists, are healthcare professionals who specialise in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and tr ...

in Paris. Her fractious friendship with Christabel ended in 1925, and Smyth conducted the Metropolitan Police Band at the unveiling of the statue to Pankhurst in London in 1930.

Personal life

Smyth had several passionate affairs, most of them with women. Smyth was at one time in love with the married suffragette Pankhurst. At the age of 71, she fell in love with writer

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer and one of the most influential 20th-century modernist authors. She helped to pioneer the use of stream of consciousness narration as a literary device. Vir ...

– herself having worked in the women's suffrage movement – who, both alarmed and amused, said it was "like being caught by a giant crab", but the two became friends. Smyth's relationship with Violet Gordon-Woodhouse is depicted satirically in

Roger Scruton Sir Roger Vernon Scruton, (; 27 February 194412 January 2020) was an English philosopher, writer, and social critic who specialised in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of Conservatism in the United Kingdom, c ...

's 2005 opera, '' Violet.'' Her philosopher-friend and the librettist of some of her operas, Henry Bennet Brewster, may have been her only male lover. She wrote to him in 1892: "I wonder why it is so much easier for me to love my own sex more passionately than yours. I can't make it out, for I am a very healthy-minded person". She met Willie Wilde, the brother of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

, during a trip to Ireland. They became engaged on the return railway journey from

Holyhead Holyhead (; , "Cybi's fort") is a historic port town, and is the list of Anglesey towns by population, largest town and a Community (Wales), community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales. Holyhead is on Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island ...

to Euston, but she broke it off within three weeks. In recognition of her work as a composer and writer, Smyth was made a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in 1922, becoming the first female composer to be awarded a damehood. Smyth received honorary doctorates in music from the universities of Durham and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

.Wiley, Christopher (8 May 2014)
"Five facts about Dame Ethel Smyth"
''OUPblog'', Oxford University Press. She died in Woking in 1944 at the age of 86. Smyth was actively involved in sport throughout her life. In her youth, she was a keen horse-rider and tennis player. She was a passionate golfer and a member of the ladies' section of Woking Golf Club, near where she lived. After she died and was cremated, her ashes were, as she had requested, scattered in the woods neighbouring the club by her brother Bob.
. Retrieved 23 May 2016 Her musical executor was the composer and musicologist Kathleen Dale, a close neighbour.

Representations and legacy

Ethel Smyth featured, under the name of Edith Staines, in E. F. Benson's ''Dodo'' books (1893–1921), decades before the quaint musical characters of his more famous Mapp and Lucia series. She "gleefully acknowledged" the portrait, according to

Prunella Scales Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (''née'' Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is an English retired actress. She portrayed Sybil Fawlty, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy ''Fawlty Towers'' and Queen Elizabeth ...

. She was later a model for the fictional Dame Hilda Tablet in the 1950s radio plays of Henry Reed. In "''Recomposing Her History: The Memoirs and Diaries of Ethel Smyth''" by Amanda Harris she speaks deeper on Smyth’s memoirs and how she resisted a male-dominated culture in the music world of the time. In these memoirs she also breaks away from the term “Lady Composer” pushing for a world of representation at a level of “composer amongst composers’.” Smyth also addresses this dilemma in “Female Piping in Eden” where she speaks on how the female element of music is implicit to the male element establishing the importance of both and the need for more representation for women in the music world. Both of these works play a crucial role in the commentary on societal and institutional changes that were needed and challenged in this era, and the role Smyth played in creating valuable insight not only through commentary but also through music that pushed her to a level of “composer amongst composers’.” She was portrayed by Maureen Pryor in the 1974 BBC television film '' Shoulder to Shoulder''. Judy Chicago's monumental work of feminist art, '' The Dinner Party'', features a place setting for Smyth. Since 2018, the actress and singer, Lucy Stevens, has portrayed Ethel Smyth on stage at various venues in Britain. In 2021, Smyth posthumously received a Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Solo based on the recording of The Prison by conductor James Blachly and soloists Sarah Brailey and Dashon Burton, members of Experiential Orchestra. Their rendition was released in August 2020 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment, which gave women the right to vote in the United State

In March 2022, in recognition of

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is celebrated on 8 March, commemorating women's fight for equality and liberation along with the women's rights movement. International Women's Day gives focus to issues such as gender equality, reproductive righ ...

, a larger-than-size statue by Christine Charlesworth of Smyth conducting was unveiled in Duke's Court Plaza, Woking, by the Mayor of Woking, Cllr Liam Lyons, with invited guests who included members of Smyth's family as well as academics and councillors. Charlesworth described her sculpture as:

Ethel stands, wearing her usual tweed skirt, enthusiastically conducting passers-by with her over-sized baton, as presented to her at the Royal Albert Hall by Emeline Pankhurst.
Her jacket is half open, her arms are beating out the time and her eyes are full of concentration as she battles with her hearing loss, which went completely in her 50's.
Also detailed in her pocket is a sheaf of paper which could be ideas for a new opera, or maybe notes for a new book, as well as sketches and polemical essays.

Literary Works

Writings

*''Impressions That Remained: Memoirs'' (1919
Vol. 1
�
Vol. 2''Streaks Of Life''
(1921)
'
(1927)
'
(1928) *''Female Pipings in Eden'' (1933) *''Beecham and Pharaoh'' (1935)
'
(1936) *' (1936)
''Maurice Baring''
(1938), a memoir of Maurice Baring *''What Happened Next'' (1940)
The Memoirs of Ethel Smyth
(1987), abridged and edited by Ronald Crichton. Available on 14-day loan at Archive.org (free registration required)

Recordings

* ''The Boatswain's Mate''. Nadine Benjamin, Rebecca Louise Dale, Edward Lee, Ted Schmitz, Jeremy Huw Williams, Simon Wilding, Mark Nathan, Lontano Ensemble, c. Odaline de la Martinez. Retrospect Opera RO001 (2016, two CDs). * ''Cello Sonata in C minor''. Friedemann Kupsa cello, Anna Silova piano; Lieder und Balladen, Opp. 3 & 4. ''Three Moods of the Sea''. Maarten Koningsberger baritone, Kelvin Grout piano. TRO-CD 01417 (1997). * ''Cello Sonata in A minor''. Lionel Handy cello, Jennifer Hughes piano: Lyrita SRCD412 (2023).Reviewed at ''MusicWeb International''
/ref> * ''Complete Piano Works''. Liana Șerbescu. CPO 999 327-2 (1995). * ''Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra''. BBC Philharmonic, c. Odaline de la Martinez. Chandos Chan 9449 (1996). * ''Double Concerto in A'' for violin, horn and piano.

Renate Eggebrecht Renate Eggebrecht (August 12, 1944 – January 8, 2023) was a German violinist and record producer. Music training Born in Selent, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, Eggebrecht received her first music lessons from her mother, before she was four ye ...

violin, Franz Draxinger horn, Céline Dutilly piano; ''Four Songs'' for mezzo-soprano and chamber ensemble (1907): Melinda Paulsen mezzo, Ethel Smyth ensemble; ''Three Songs'' for mezzo-soprano and piano (1913): Melinda Paulsen mezzo, Angela Gassenhuber piano. TRO-CD 01405 (1992). * ''Entente Cordiale''. Retrospect Opera fundraising campaign for future recording, 2024. * ''Fete Galante: A Dance Dream''. Charmian Bedford (soprano), Carolyn Dobbin (mezzo soprano), Mark Milhofer (tenor), Alessandro Fisher (tenor), Felix Kemp (baritone), Simon Wallfisch (baritone), Lontano Ensemble/Odaline de la Martinez. Retrospect Opera RO007 (2019). * ''Mass in D'', ''March of the Women, Scene from The Boatswain's Mate''. Eiddwen Harrhy, The Plymouth Music Series, Philip Brunelle. Virgin Classics VC 7 91188-2 (1991). * Piano Trio in D minor (1880): Neave Trio, Chandos CHAN20238 (2024) * ''The Prison''. Sarah Brailey, Dashon Burton, soloists; Experiential Orchestra and Chorus; James Blachly, Conductor. Steven Fox, Chorus Master, Blanton Alspaugh and Soundmirror, producer
Chandos Records
(2020). * ''Serenade in D major''. BBC Philharmonic, c. Odaline de la Martinez. Chandos Chan 9449 (1996). * ''Serenade in D major''. On 'Lauter!', Ensemble reflektor. Solaire SOL1017 (2024). * ''String Quartet in C minor''. Maier Quartet. DB Productions, DBCD197 (2020). * ''String Quartet in E minor'', ''String Quintet in E Major'', Op. 1. Mannheimer Streichquartett and Joachim Griesheimer. CPO 999 352-2 (1996). * ''Suite for String Orchestra'', Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, conducted by Douglas Bostock
CPO 555 457-2
(2022). * ''Violin Sonata in A minor'', Op. 7, ''Cello Sonata in A minor'', Op. 5, ''String Quintet in E major'', Op. 1, ''String Quartet in E minor''. Renate Eggebrecht, violin, Friedemann Kupsa cello, Céline Dutilly piano, Fanny Mendelssohn Quartet. TRO-CD 01403 (2012, two CDs). * ''Violin Sonata in A minor'', Op. 7. Annette-Barbara Vogel, violin, Durval Cesetti, piano. Toccata TOCN0013 (2021). * ''Der Wald''. Natalya Romaniw, Claire Barnett-Jones, Robert Murray, Andrew Shore, Morgan Pearce, Matthew Brook; BBC Singers, BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Andrews (2023).Resonus announcement of ''Der Wald'', 3 August 2023
/ref> * ''The Wreckers''. Anne-Marie Owens, Justin Lavender, Peter Sidhom, David Wilson-Johnson, Judith Howarth, Anthony Roden, Brian Bannatyne-Scott, Annemarie Sand. Huddersfield Choral Society, BBC Philharmonic, c. Odaline de la Martinez. Conifer Classics (1994). (Re-released in 2018 by Retrospect Opera, RO004).

References

;Sources * *Benson, E.F. (1986),
Dodo: An Omnibus
'. London: Hogarth Press, 1986 * Collis, Louise. ''Impetuous Heart: The Story of Ethel Smyth''. London: William Kimber, 1984. * *Gates, Eugene (2006), "Damned If You Do and Damned If You Don't: Sexual Aesthetics and the Music of Dame Ethel Smyth", ''Kapralova Society Journal'' 4, no. 1, 2006: 1–5. *Gates, Eugene (2013), "Dame Ethel Smyth: Pioneer of English Opera". ''Kapralova Society Journal'' 11, no. 1 (2013): 1–9. *Jebens, Dieter and R. Cansdale (2004), ''Guide to the Basingstoke Canal''. Basingstoke Canal Authority and the Surrey and Hampshire Canal Society, 2004. (2nd Edition) * St. John, Christopher (1959), ''Ethel Smyth: A Biography''. London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1959.

External links

* * *
LiederNet Archive

Dame Ethel Smyth: Pioneer of English Opera
– by Eugene Gates, ''Kapralova Society Journal''.

– by Valarie Morris, Sandscape Publications.
Ethel Mary Smyth letter
from the Special Collections and University Archives Department at the

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...

Ethel Mary Smyth letter 2
from the Special Collections and University Archives Department at the

Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (1858–1944), Composer and writer
(National Portrait Gallery) * *
Dame Ethel Smyth: Composer, suffragette, sportswoman and resident of WokingRetrospect Opera"The March of the Women"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, Ethel 1858 births 1944 deaths 19th-century English classical composers 19th-century English LGBTQ people 19th-century English women composers 20th-century English non-fiction writers 20th-century English classical composers 20th-century English LGBTQ people 20th-century English women writers 20th-century English women composers English women classical composers Composers awarded damehoods Composers from London Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English autobiographers English expatriates in Germany English feminist writers English bisexual musicians English bisexual writers English LGBTQ composers English opera composers English Romantic composers British feminist musicians Bisexual composers LGBTQ classical composers LGBTQ people from London Musicians from Kent People from Frimley People from Sidcup Pupils of Carl Reinecke Pupils of Salomon Jadassohn University of Music and Theatre Leipzig alumni English women autobiographers Women of the Victorian era British women opera composers Women's Social and Political Union Writers from the London Borough of Bexley