Say It with Music: Dame Ethel Smyth
So there you are, a woman of extraordinary musical talent during the Victorian Age, but in 1880 the influential American music critic George Upton writes a book titled Woman in Music in which he states that women fail as composers due to lack of innate ability, too many overt emotions, and that women are unable “to endure the discouragements of the composer.” Well, what do you do?
If you’re Ethel Smyth you go on to compose six operas, two sets of lieder, assorted works for chamber orchestras, numerous songs for vocals and piano accompaniment, a choral symphony, two orchestral symphonies, a mass, and become the first female composer awarded a Damehood by the British Crown.
Hah! Take that, George Upton!
And while she was composing that body of work, Dame Ethel found the time to be active in the British Suffragette movement. Oh, and did I mention that between 1910 and 1940 she also published 10 books of prose?
Like they say, if you want something done, give it to a busy woman.
Born Ethel Mary Smyth in 1858 in an area of Kent that today is incorporated as a borough of London, Smyth evinced an interest in music early in her youth. Her father, however, a Brigadier in the army, wasn’t keen on the idea of his daughter pursuing what was traditionally a man’s career.
Nevertheless, by age 17, Smyth’s determination to pursue a life in music overcame her father’s objections, and she began studying in earnest. After introductory classes in England, Smyth attended the prestigious Leipzig Conservatory. While in Germany, she was befriended by such influential composers and musicians as Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms and was mentored by the likes of Grieg and Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky was particularly impressed with Smyth and wrote glowingly of her talents as a composer.
Returning to England, she dedicated herself to her music. She made her debut as a composer in 1890 with her Serenade in D as part of the Crystal Palace Concerts. In 1893, her Mass in D was enthusiastically received, gaining Smyth entry into the highest circles of the British music scene.
Between 1893 and 1910, Smyth composed a series of operas. They were performed in various venues in Europe, especially in Germany and eventually in England and even in North America. And though Smyth’s reputation as a composer had been secured, it was still difficult for her to have her operas produced. Classical music’s male-dominated world was still resistant to the idea of female composers, despite widespread acknowledgement of Smyth’s talent.
This male attitude did not in any way stop—or even slow—Smyth’s output of music. It not only strengthened her commitment to her art, it strengthened her commitment to the Suffragette movement and its attendant struggle for women’s political rights. In 1910, Smyth composed “The March of Women,” which the Women’s Social and Political Union adopted as their anthem.
This busy and determined woman was by no means a stern and spinsterish wallflower. Quite the contrary. Though she made it quite clear that marriage was out of the question, and that she treasured her independence, Smyth was known to have indulged in several affairs. Most were with women; only one was with a man, Henry Bennett Brewster, a long-distance relationship that was perhaps unconsummated. In a letter to Bennett dated 1892, Smyth wrote, “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.” Well into her senior years, at age 71, Smyth even fell in love with Virginia Woolf! Though Woolf didn’t reciprocate Smyth’s romantic feelings, the two women remained good friends.
After Smyth’s death in 1944, her music fell out of favor; performances were few and far between. As of late, however, there is renewed interest in her compositions, with increasing performances in the UK, Europe, and the United States. Her contribution to women’s art and rights has been immortalized by inclusion in Judy Chicago’s monumental Feminist work, The Dinner Party, permanently housed in its own gallery in The Brooklyn Museum.
All in all, Dame Ethel Smyth’s life was not only musical but truly magnificent. ▼
Ann Aptaker is the author of short stories and the Lambda & Goldie award winning Cantor Gold series. Her new book, A Crime of Secrets, was released July 4, 2023.