Review
English composer, writer and activist. Although persistently ignored by the musical canon, she was a significant and vital voice on the British scene of her time. She was acclaimed for her music, her highly controversial autobiographical writings, while earning a reputation as an activist for the recognition of women musicians. She was made a Dame of the Order of the British Empire in 1922 (the first female composer to be so honoured) and was awarded honorary doctorates by the Universities of Durham (1910) and Oxford (1922).
Justifications
- English composer of the late 19th and early 20th century, noted for the quality of her operatic and symphonic works. Writer and advocate of women's suffrage.
- One of the first composers to be programmed by the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, in 1903, with the opera Der Wald.
- First English composer to have her works performed in Germany and the United States in the first third of the 20th century.
- Writer who advocated for women's suffrage.
Biography
Ethel Mary Smyth decided to pursue a musical career, against her father's wishes. In 1887 she entered the Leipzig Conservatory and during this period she met Clara Wieck.
Described as "one of the few women composers who can seriously be considered to be achieving something worthwhile in the field of music-making" by Tchaikovsky, in 1893 she gave the European premiere of her first work, Serenade in D. It was followed by the operas Fantasio (1898), Der Wald (1902) and Der Standrechtse (1906) in which the European compositional and aesthetic style is reflected.
Of his Mass in D major, performed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1893, which had been a great success, it was said "that one does not associate it with feminine production; it is all virile...".
From 1911 to 1913, she was closely associated with the English suffragette movement, where she met the writer Virginia Woolf. Led by Emmiline Pankhurst (1858-1928), the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) adopted Smyth's composition, The Women's March, as its anthem.
Creator of an extensive musical output spanning different styles, her last major musical work was the vocal symphony The Prison (1931).
In recognition of her work as a composer and writer, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1922, becoming the first composer to receive such a high distinction. She also received honorary doctorates in music from the Universities of Durham and Oxford.
Her interest in literature led her to publish, between 1919 and 1940, ten books entitled Impressions that Remained, most of them autobiographical and very successful.
Ethel Smyth was the only English composer to have her works performed in Germany and the United States in the first third of the 20th century.
Works
Spanish
Ballet
- Fête galante, from the opera (1932)
Brass
- Hot Potatoes for fanfare (1930)
Chamber music
String quartets
- String Quartet in A minor (1878)
- String Quartet in D minor (1880)
- String Quartet in C minor (1881)
- String Quartet in E-flat (1882–84)
- String Quartet in C (1886–88)
- String Quartet in E minor (1902–12)
String quintets
- String Quintet in B minor (1882–84)
- String Quintet in E, Op. 1 for 2 violins, viola, and 2 cellos (1883)
Trios
- Trio for violin, cello and piano in D minor (1880)
- String Trio in D (1887)
- Trio for violin, horn and piano in A, from Concerto for violin and horn in A (1928)
Other
- Sonata for cello and piano in C minor (1880)
- Sonata for cello and piano in A minor, Op. 5 (1887)
- Sonata for violin and piano in A minor, Op. 7 (1887)
- Variations on Bonny Sweet Robin (Ophelia's Song), for flute, oboe and piano (1927)
- Two Interlinked French Folk Melodies for flute, oboe and piano, from Intermezzo of Entente cordiale (s.f.)
Choral
Religious
- Massin D (1891)
- Five Sacred Part-Songs, based on Chorale Tunes (1882–84)
- The Song of Love, Op. 8 (1888)
- Wedding Anthem for choir and organ (c.1900)
- We Watched her Breathing through the Night (1876)
- A Spring Canticle (or Wood Spirits' Song) for choir and orchestra (c.1903)
- Hey Nonny No for choir and orchestra (1910)
- Sleepless Dreams, for choir and orchestra (1910)
- Songs of Sunrise (1910)
- Dreamings (1920)
- Soul's Joy, from Fête galante (c.1923)
- The Prison, cantata for soprano, bass, choir and orchestra (1929–30)
Opera
- Fantasio, comic opera in 2 acts (1892–94)
- Der Wald, opera in 1 act (1899–1901)
- The Wreckers, opera in 3 acts (1902–04)
- The Boatswain's Mate, comic opera in 1 act (1913–14)
- Fête galante, opera in 1 act (1921–22)
- Entente cordiale, comic opera in 1 act (1923–24)
Orchestral
- Overture to Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (1889)
- Serenade in D (1889)
- Suite for Strings, Op. 1A (c.1891)
- On the Cliffs of Cornwall, fromThe Wreckers (c.1908)
- Four Short Chorale Preludes for Strings and Solo Instruments, from Short Chorale Preludes for organ (c.1913)
- Fête galante, suite adapted from the opera (1924)
- Intermezzo, from The Boatswain's Mate (1924)
- Two Interlinked French Folk Melodies, from Entente cordiale (1929)
- Two Orchestral Preludes, from The Prison (1929–30)
- Entente cordiale, suite adapted from the opera Concertante (1935)
- Concerto for violin and horn in A (1926)
Organ
- Fugue à 5 (1882–84)
- Short Chorale Preludes (1882–84)
- Study on "O wiese lig seid ihr doch, ihr Frommen" (1882–84)
- Prelude on a Traditional Irish Air (1938)
Piano
- Sonata No. 1 in C (1877)
- Sonata No. 2 (Geistinger) in C-sharp minor (1877)
- Sonata No. 3 in D (1877)
- Aus der Jugenzeit! in E minor (1877–80)
- Four-part Dances (1877–80)
- Two-part Invention in D (1877–80)
- Two-part Suite in E (1877–80)
- Variations on an Original Theme (of an Exceedingly Dismal Nature) in D-flat (1878)
- Prelude and Fugue in C (1878–84)
- Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp (1880)
- Prelude and Fugue for Thin People (c. 1883)
- Suite for piano four hands, from Suite for Strings, Op. 1A (1891)
- The March of the Women, re-arrangement of the song (1914)
- Canons (s.f.)
Songs
- Lieder und Balladen Op. 3 (c.1877)
- Lieder Op. 4 (c.1877)
- Eight songs (c.1877)
- Nine Rounds (1878–84)
- Four Songs with Chamber ensemble (1907)
- The March of the Women (1910)
- Three Moods of the Sea with orchestra (1913)
- Three Songs (1913)
Writings
- Impressions That Remained: Memoirs, Vol. 1 y Vol. 2 (1919)
- Streaks Of Life (1921)
- A Three-Legged Tour in Greece (1927)
- A Final Burning of Boats, etc. (1928)
- Female Pipings in Eden (1933)
- Beecham and Pharaoh (1935)
- As Time Went On ... (1936)
- Affection: A Story for Dog Lovers (1936)
- Maurice Baring (1938)
- What Happened Next (1940)
Bibliography
Adkins, Patricia (1995). Las mujeres en la música. Madrid: Alianza editorial.
Anderson, Gwen (1997). Ethel Smyth. London: Cecil Woolf. ISBN189796790XISBN1-897967-90-X.
Bartsch, Cornelia, et al. (2010). Felsensprengerin, Brückenbauerin, Wegbereiterin: Die Komponistin Ethel Smyth. Allitera. ISBN978-3-86906-068-2.
Bofill-Levi, Anna (2015). Los sonidos del silencio. Madrid: Aresta.
Collis, Louise(1984). Impetuous Heart: The Story of Ethel Smyth. London: William Kimber. ISBN0-7183-0543-4.
Crichton, Ronald (1987). The Memoirs of Ethel Smyth. London: Viking Press. ISBN0670806552ISBN0-670-80655-2.
Fuller, Sophie (2001). "Smyth, Dame Ethel". Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.26038. ISBN978-1-56159-263-0. <https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/>29-10-20.
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, pp. 1–5.
Gates, Eugene (2013). "Dame Ethel Smyth: Pioneer of English Opera." Kapralova Society Journal 11, no. 1, pp. 1–9.
Kertesz, Elizabeth Jane (2001). Issues in the critical reception of Ethel Smyth’s Mass and first four operas in England and Germany, PhD Dissertation. Melbourne: University of Melbourne on unimelb.edu.au.
Rieger, Eva (1988). A Stormy Winter: Memories of a Pugnacious English Composer. (Autobiography of EthelSmyth) (Published in German as Einstürmischer Winter. Erinnerungen einer streitbaren englischen Komponistin.) Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag,
Stone, Caroline (2018). Another Side of Ethel Smyth: Letters to her Great-Niece Elizabeth Mary Williamson. Edinburgh: Kennedy & Boyd. ISBN9781849211673.
St. John, Christopher (1959). Ethel Smyth: A Biography. London: Longmans, Green & Co.
Didactic approach
In Primary Education in Art, Foreign Language and Knowledge of the Natural, Social and Cultural Environment.
In Secondary Education, in the subjects of Education in Civic and Ethical Values, Foreign Language, Geography and History and Music.
In Baccalaureate, in Foreign Language, History of Music and Dance, Musical Analysis, Choir and Vocal Technique and History of the Contemporary World.
In Conservatories and Higher Music Education, in the subjects of Musical Analysis, History of Music, Instrumental Subjects, Instrumental Ensemble, Orchestra and Singing.
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