Ethel Smyth (1858–1944)
Composer; Suffragette; Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Works published by MoV
Komm susser Tod (SATB)
More to coming soon
Komm susser Tod (SATB)
Ethel Mary Smyth (1858–1944)
Ethel Mary Smyth was born in Marylebone, London and brought up at the family house, Frimhurst, at Frimley in Surrey. Despite her father’s vehement opposition to her pursuing a career as a composer, in 1877 Smyth was allowed to further her musical education at the Leipzig Conservatoire. During her time in Leipzig, Smyth met Antonin Dvořák, Edvard Grieg and most notably Pyotr Tchaikovsky, who encouraged her to study orchestration. She left the conservatoire after a year to study privately with Heinrich von Herzogenberg who introduced her to Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms.
When Smyth returned to England, her orchestral and choral music were very favourably received. In 1890, her Serenade in D was premièred in Crystal Palace and in 1893 her Mass in D was performed at the Royal Albert Hall by the Royal Choral Society. Smyth is best known for her operas, of which there are six. The Wreckers and The Boatswain’s Mate met with particular acclaim at their debuts, whilst in 1903 Der Wald was the first opera written by a woman to be performed at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
An ardent supporter of women’s rights, Smyth was devoted to the cause of female suffrage. Laggard Dawn and The March of the Women were premièred by a chorus of Suffragettes at a fundraising rally at the Royal Albert Hall in 1911. In 1921, she was sentenced to two months’ imprisonment in Holloway prison alongside Emmeline Pankhurst for smashing the windows of suffrage opponents’ homes across London. It was during her time in Holloway that the most famous performance of The March of the Women took place: while the prisoners were taking their outdoor exercise in the prison yard, Smyth conducted their singing with her toothbrush from a nearby window. She conducted The March of Women once more in 1930, this time at an unveiling of a statue of Emmeline Pankhurst in the Victoria Tower Gardens. Ethel Smyth was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1922 for her services to music.
©MoV 2020