<\/p>
Ethel Smyth<\/a><\/strong> (1858-1944) was an English composer and suffragette. A leading musical figure of her era, she became the first female composer to be awarded a damehood. Her March of the Women<\/em> became the official anthem of the Women’s Social and Political Union.<\/p> Despite the wishes of her father, she was determined to pursue a career in music. Smyth’s studies took her to the Leipzig conservatory at the age of 17. There, she studied with Reinecke, and met composers including Dvo\u0159\u00e1k<\/a><\/strong>, Grieg<\/a><\/strong>, Tchaikovsky<\/a><\/strong>, Clara Schumann<\/a><\/strong> and Brahms<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p> Smyth wrote everything from songs and piano works to orchestral pieces and large-scale works. Her operatic success saw her become the first woman to have an opera performed at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was also a gifted writer, publishing works of non-fiction and autobiography.<\/p> But where should you begin with getting to know her music? Here are six of the best pieces by Ethel Smyth.<\/strong><\/p> This is one of Smyth\u2019s earliest surviving works, dating from her time at the Leipzig Conservatory (1877-78). One of the variations is a humorous depiction of her spirited horse, Phyllis, who once threw Smyth into a ditch. This event was illustrated in pencil on the score by the composer.<\/p> If the title suggests this is not an altogether serious work, Smyth’s writing already shows a mastery of both light, fluent melody and a flair for drama.<\/p> Listen to the full piece here:<\/a><\/strong> <\/p> For her Opus One, Smyth turned to chamber music. Her String Quintet in E was first heard in public at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. This five-movement Brahmsian work rooted in her training at the conservatory.<\/p> As with her other early chamber works, the Quintet shows an assured approach to form. It also has a winning expressiveness that is most telling in the slow movements. <\/p> Written after she returned to England from Germany, this striking four-movement orchestral Serenade is influenced by Brahms. Premiered at the Crystal Palace, the work brought Smyth public success.<\/p> The Serenade in D was Smyth’s first orchestral work. It was premiered by conductor August Manns at the Crystal Palace and, along with the Overture to Anthony and Cleopatra<\/em>, brought Smyth’s music to London audiences for the first time.<\/p> The general belief in that era was that women were not able to compose as well as men \u2013 something that Smyth was determind to disprove. Her genial, large-scale work is cast in four movements and is symphonic in scope. <\/p>Best works by Ethel Smyth<\/h2>
Variations on an Original Theme (Of an Exceedingly Dismal Nature) in D flat (1878)<\/strong><\/h3>
String Quintet in E, Op. 1 (1883)<\/strong><\/h3>
Serenade in D (1890)<\/strong><\/h3>