Ethel Smyth

Dame Ethel Mary Smyth was a prominent English composer and a dedicated activist for women's suffrage.

Her musical output was vast and varied. She composed songs, piano pieces, chamber music, and large orchestral works. She also wrote several operas, which are musical dramas. Smyth was a trailblazer in a field that often excluded women. She became the first female composer to be granted a damehood, an honor for distinguished service. Her life was marked by both artistic triumph and political struggle.

Smyth’s musical journey began with her status as a child prodigy. She was a stellar pianist and wrote her first hymn at age ten. At twelve, she decided to study music formally. By seventeen, she studied with Alexander Ewing, who introduced her to the works of Wagner and Berlioz. Smyth later attended the Leipzig Conservatory in Germany to study composition with Carl Reinecke. During her time in Leipzig, she met legendary composers such as Dvořák, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky. She later studied privately with Heinrich von Herzogenberg. These interactions shaped her deep understanding of musical structure and history.

Smyth’s career faced unique challenges due to the social standards of her era. Critics often judged her through the lens of her gender rather than her talent. This created a difficult "double bind" for her. When she wrote powerful, rhythmic music, critics claimed it lacked "feminine charm." However, when she wrote delicate, melodic pieces, they said she failed to meet the standards of male composers. To avoid this bias, she sometimes used the pseudonym E.M. Smith. Despite these hurdles, her talent was undeniable. Her performance of the Mass in D at London's Albert Hall in 1893 helped establish her as a serious composer.

Her operatic works achieved significant historical milestones. Her opera *The Wreckers* is regarded by some critics as the most important English opera between the eras of Purcell and Britten. Another opera, *Der Wald*, was produced in 1903. For over a century, it remained the only opera by a woman composer performed at New York's Metropolitan Opera.

Smyth also composed *The Boatswain's Mate*, which was praised as a delightful comic opera. Her ability to write music that felt like a conversation helped her succeed in these complex forms.

Beyond music, Smyth was a vital leader in the women's suffrage movement. In 1910, she joined the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU). She paused her musical career for two years to focus on the cause. She believed women lacked political power because they lacked the vote. In 1911, she composed "The March of the Women," using words by Cicely Hamilton.

This song became the official anthem of the suffragette movement. It served to inspire women to unite for their rights.

Smyth’s activism was direct and sometimes led to imprisonment. She was one of 109 members who responded to a call to protest by breaking windows. This was a tactic used against politicians who opposed women's voting rights. As a result, Smyth served two months in Holloway Prison. While there, she famously conducted singing suffragettes using a toothbrush.

Even after her release, she remained committed to the movement. She later conducted the Metropolitan Police Band at the unveiling of an Emmeline Pankhurst statue in 1930.

In her later years, Smyth faced significant physical and personal changes. She developed hearing loss that eventually led to total deafness. Rather than stopping her creative life, she turned to literature. Between 1919 and 1940, she published ten successful, mostly autobiographical books. Her personal life was also complex, involving a long-term relationship with Henry Brewster. They exchanged thousands of letters over many years. Though her hearing failed, her legacy as a composer and a fighter for equality remains preserved in history and through monuments like her statue in Woking.