Ethel Mary Smyth was a composer, conductor, writer, and activist in the women’s suffrage movement in England. Raised during the Victorian era, she challenged societal norms that confined women to traditional roles and fought for her right to receive a musical education, present her works, and have them published.

From an early age, Smyth demonstrated exceptional talent. She became a skilled pianist at a young age and composed her first hymn at the age of ten. By twelve, she had made the firm decision to pursue a career in music.

She studied under renowned musicians such as Alexander Ewing, Carl Reinecke, and Heinrich von Herzogenberg. While training at the Leipzig Conservatory, she met influential figures like Dvořák, Grieg, and Tchaikovsky. Through Herzogenberg, she also established connections with Clara Schumann and Brahms.

Throughout her career, Smyth composed a wide range of works for orchestra, soloists, chamber ensembles, and choirs, including several operas that she conducted herself.

For two years, she set music aside to dedicate herself to the suffragist movement in England. In 1912, after being imprisoned for three weeks for participating in a protest, she organized a prison choir and conducted her own piece, March of the Women, using a toothbrush as a baton. Later, in 1930, she conducted the London Police Band during the unveiling of Emmeline Pankhurst’s statue.

Among her most notable compositions are Mass in D, the opera The Wreckers, Concerto for Violin, Horn, and Orchestra, The Boatswain’s Mate, and Fête Galante: A Dance Dream, among others.

 

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