A picturebook for children about ‘racist’ Ethel Smyth
NewsThe feminist composer, riding a wave of Glyndebourne acclaim for her disruptive opera The Wreckers’ is to be the subject of a book for children, out in November.
The BBC, in an otherwise adulatory report about the Ethel revival, fastidiously points out: ‘She was a staunch conservative, and held a number of opinions that, while popular in her day, are less so now.’
What might they be? The musicologist Leah Broad told the Guardian that ‘she held problematic views about race, and subscribed to the then-popular belief in white English superiority.’
Suitable role model for children?
Maybe we shouldn’t expose them to Wagner either.
I suppose the difference is that we listen to Wagner despite his personal failings, whereas the only reason Ethyl Smyth’s music is performed is to hit a diversity quota.
As Michael Marshall observes in ‘Edward King: teacher, pastor, bishop, saint’ (Gracewing, 2021, p. 270), we should avoid falling into ‘the perennial trap of making anachronistic judgements limited and even prejudiced by the culturally conditioned perspective of a later age’.
Evidently, there is a revival in Ethel Smyth’s works.
The BBC Proms includes – The Wreckers Opera, The Concerto for Violin and Horn and The Mass in D major in 3 separate concerts.
In addition, Prom events in Birmingham and Glasgow include Smyth’s Lieder, Opus 4 and her Piano Trio in D minor.
According to the BBC Website, the last time a Prom included her music was in 1933!
Not so – The Wreckers was performed in 1994, and a live CD was issued by the now-defunct Conifer Classics.
Thanks for the correction Stephen.
I was surprised when I checked the site but I assumed it was up to date.
As just about everyone in England in Ethyl Smyth’s generation held similar views about the superiority of the English race it is not surprising that she did. When will these culturally woke cranks realise that! Smyth was a product of her times – like most English people of her generation. It didn’t make her wicked.