Yale University Library Research Guides: YYGS Music and Power: Suffrage Movement: March of the Women

Ethel Smyth picture

Source: Misc. Ms. 418, Ethel Smyth: Letters and Scrapbook.

General information

Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) was the most prominent female British composer of her era. She composed operas, orchestral works, chamber music, and other works. She also wrote several books, which are mostly autobiographical.

Smyth was a vigorous and prominent supporter of women’s right to vote. She had a close personal relationship with Emmeline Pankhurst, who headed the Women’s Social and Political Union, the organization that led the struggle to gain women the right to vote in the United Kingdom.

In 1911 Smyth composed The March of the Women, the suffragist movement's anthem. In 1912 she went to prison for throwing a rock through the window of Lewis Harcourt, the Colonial Secretary, who had made disparaging remarks about the women’s suffrage movement.

British women gained the right to vote (with some limitations) in 1918. In the United States, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1920, giving American women the right to vote.

The March of the Women

Score
Smyth made numerous arrangements of The March of the Women. The version seen here includes the melody and words, but not the accompaniment. In addition to standard musical notation, it also contains letters and symbols to assist people who learned to sing from solfège (do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-do).
Recording
Sound recording by Glasgow University Chapel Choir, conducted by Katy Lavinia Cooper

Optional Reading

Newspaper Articles by Smyth

Mrs. Pankhurst's Treatment in Prison
In this article, published in The Times of London on April 19, 1912, Smyth complains about how her friend Emmeline Pankhurst, the leader of the suffrage movement, was treated in prison. (This article is very long, so you don't need to read every word of it. Also, the font appears extremely small on the screen. After you click on the link, you'll want to click on the Download button. Once you've downloaded the file, you can enlarge it.)
Women in the Queen's Hall Orchestra
In this article, published in The Times of London on October 21, 1913, Smyth praises the Queen's Hall Orchestra (and its conductor, Sir Henry Wood) for hiring women musicians. At that time, most orchestras were all male. In another article, Wood was quoted saying, "I do not like ladies playing the trombone or double bass, but they can play the violin, and they do."

Archival collection

Ethel Smyth: Letters and Scrapbook
The Gilmore Music Library has a small but interesting archival collection that contains numerous letters by Smyth, as well as her scrapbook. This link connects you to the archival finding aid, which lists the contents of the collection, though the documents themselves aren't available online. The finding aid includes a brief biography of Smyth.

Google Doc for this Topic

Assignment

Women's Suffrage in the United States

Women's Suffrage in Sheet Music from the Library of Congress
From the Library of Congress about the collection:

"Women's Suffrage in Sheet Music includes over 200 pieces of sheet music spanning the years 1838-1923, over half of which highlight women's emerging voices and suffrage efforts; the collection includes published rally songs and songsters written and compiled by notable composers and suffragists, as well as music manuscripts submitted for copyright deposit by everyday citizens. Anti-suffragists raised voices in song as well, and popular music of the era echoed anti-suffrage sentiments of the day with specific references to the movement."

She's Good Enough to Be Your Baby's Mother

Sheet music
See the fully-digitized sheet music of the song from the Library of Congress.
Recording
A performance by the Karrin Allyson Sextet from the recording Shoulder to Shoulder, released in 2019

YYGS Music and Power: Suffrage Movement: March of the Women