Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) – first, her March of the Women, which she once conducted from her prison cell window, with a toothbrush.
Ethel Smyth’s first orchestral work, the Serenade in D Major for Orchestra, was composed in 1889, and given its first performance on 26 April in the follow year in a concert at Crystal Palace.
It’s hugely impressive for a first work – you’d probably not guess it was her first from listening to it. It starts with a large Allegro non troppo, followed by a Scherzo and then an Allegretto (both of these movements are more chamber-like in writing), and a vigorous Finale to conclude.
Ethel Smyth and Brahms knew each other and it’s possible that she took the title and inspiration for this work from the two Serenades for orchestra by Brahms. Tchaikovsky said that there were three main elements to Ethel Smyth’s character – her dog, her love of hunting, and her love of Brahms –
“In her view, Brahms is the culmination of all music, and everything that came before him served merely as necessary groundwork so that, finally, absolute musical beauty could be embodied in the person of the Viennese master”
Ethel Smyth admired Brahms as a composer, but not blindly – she has some pretty stern things to say about his feelings on Wagner, of his conducting, his humour (!), and his attitude towards women – we’re very fortunate that you can hear her talking about him in 1935 on the BBC here:
His Serenades are in five or six movements, alternating fast, slow and dance movements almost like a Baroque suite:
Brahms Serenade 1 in D major (1860)
Brahms Serenade 2 in A major (1859/1875)
If you enjoyed her Serenade, perhaps compare it with at her Violin Sonata of 1887, or the Concerto for Violin and Horn, composed much later in 1927.
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