The March of the Women

Isabel Weston

Newnham College 2018 Millicent Fawcett Workshops ‘Vote 100 Pathways to Humanities & Social Sciences’ Research Project

The March of the Women

Isabel Weston Sawston Village College

Project Abstract

My project aims to explore the link between women in music and the women’s suffrage movement. I chose to focus on this topic because I have always had a passion for playing, composing and listening to music, and this project enabled me to broaden these skills. The aim of my project was to compose my own piece of music to represent the timeline of the women’s suffrage movement, inspired by Dame Ethel Smyth, one of the most famous female composers and suffragettes of her time. I also aim to perform this piece with a string quartet. I hope that my project truly captures the essence of both women in music and women in the suffrage movement.

Dame Ethel Smyth and Women in Music

Women have always played a vital role in music. Despite being shadowed behind the prominence of men, women continued to thrive through their unrecognised contributions.

Mozart’s sister Maria is a renowned example of how belittled and overlooked female talent has been in music. Some one hundred years later, Clara Schumann (the wife of Robert Schumann) emerged. She would go on to be one of the most influential figures for women in music to this day; her works inspired and continue to inspire a rising scene of female musicians, one of whom was Ethel Smyth (1858 – 1944).

Dame Ethel Smyth was a brave suffragette and a skilled composer who refused to remain trapped by Victorian conventions. She defied her father by studying composition at the Leipzig Conservatory though, disappointed by the standards there, she moved on to study privately with Heinrich von Herzogenberg, who introduced her to Brahms and Clara Schumann.

Unlike many other female musicians, the world of ‘feminine’ songs and piano miniatures was not for her. From the beginning she was composing in ambitious, large-scale forms, including the Double Concerto for horn and violin, the Mass in D and six operas Der Wald, which was staged at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1903. Meanwhile, her comic opera The Boatswain’s Mate drew contemporary praise for its ‘delightful, conversational’ style. Conductor Sir Thomas Beecham organised a festival in her honour in 1934 and Proms founder Sir Henry Wood was an admirer: there were 28 performances of her works at the Proms between 1913 and 1947. Her 1906 opera The Wreckers finally received its premiere at the Proms in 1994.

"Miss Smyth is one of the few women composers whom one can seriously consider to be achieving something valuable in the field of musical creation." P.Tchaikovsky

Ethel Smyth’s involvement in the Suffragette Movement:

• In 1910, aged 52 she met and fell passionately in love with Emmeline Pankhurst, the founder of the WSPU (Women's Social and Political Union). Ethel decided to dedicate two years to the cause.

• In 1911 she composed 'The March of the Women' which became the battle song of the WSPU.

• In 1912 the WSPU organised a campaign of smashing windows. Ethel vigorously participated in this and was arrested for breaking the windows of the Colonial Secretary for which she had to serve two months in Holloway prison.

• In prison she organised sports activities and when visited by Sir Thomas Beecham was observed conducting the inmates marching in the yard by keeping time with her toothbrush.

• In 1914 the WSPU suspended its political activities in order to help with the war effort.

• During the war Ethel spent several years in France as a radiographer.

• In 1923, at the age of 64, she was awarded the DBE (Dame of the British Empire).

• In 1926 Ethel received an honorary Doctorate of Music from Oxford University.

• In 1944, at the age of 86, Ethel Smyth died of pneumonia after a prolonged illness.

Possibly one of Ethel Smyth’s most famous compositions, likely for its links to the Suffragette movement, is ‘The March of The Women.’

I have arranged the piece myself along with compositions of my own, to construct a piece of music that I feel reflects the journey of women’s suffrage.

Timeline of Suffrage Movement (used to inspire composition)

1) The Suffragettes - 1897: The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was formed with more than 20 national societies in support. Its leader was Millicent Garrett Fawcett and it was based in Gower Street, London.

The piece begins with a march-like section to represent the formation of the Suffragettes. It illustrates the power and unity of this union. The harmony and style of composition remain typical of the time.

2) Suffragists - 1903: Emmeline Pankhurst, a member of the Manchester Suffragist set who was frustrated with the ‘wait-and-see’ tactics of the NUWSS, formed the women’s social and political union (WSPU) with her daughters Christabel and Sylvia.

In comparison to the previous ‘suffragette’ section of the piece, this section is much harsher in tone, especially with the tremolo in the strings. The harmony is also more dissonant and shocking. This aims to represent the militant tactics of the suffragists. The section ends with the violin 1 as the Suffragettes, and the rest of the quartet as the suffragists, representing the joint effort of both unions in the movement of women’s suffrage.

3) Campaigning – 1905–1913: From 1905 to 1913, the women’s suffrage movement saw militant and peaceful campaigning. This included rallies, marches, hunger strikes, force feeding, imprisonment and Black Friday (a violent demonstration in front of the houses of Parliament). The phrases ‘Deeds not Words’ and ‘Votes for Women’ became mottos of the movement.

This section of the piece is by far the longest, to truly convey the drawn-out period of hardship and suffering faced by the Suffragettes and Suffragists. The section begins, like much of the rest of the piece, in the 19th / early 20th century style, to reflect the campaigning efforts of the Suffragists. However, later, the section begins to become more contemporary in its use of harmony and particularly dissonance. This reflects the campaigning of the Suffragists and how revolutionary their movement was. The harsh nature of the section, heightened by the articulation, also represents the truly tortuous tactics they used and the consequences they faced.

4) Emily Davidson – 1913: Emily Davidson was killed after she ran out in front of the King George V’s horse at the Epsom Derby. Her funeral was attended by over 50,000 people.

This section begins with a fast section in canon, representing her brave act at the Epsom Derby and the chaos that ensued, with a funeral march to follow. This ‘Grave’ section uses the tune from ‘March of the women’ in the violins but in a minor key, to represent both the sadness of the occasion but also the catalyst it sparked in women getting the vote and how brave and important the figure of Emily Davidson was.

5) War – 1914-1918: The First World War took place between 1914 and 1918. The campaigning ceased, and women joined the war effort. With the working men away fighting on the front line, this was a pivotal moment for the showcase of the capabilities of women.

This section in the piece is represented by the famous war song ‘Keep the home fires burning’ by Ivor Novello.

6) Women get the Vote (March of the Women) – 1918 (1917-1928): After a long and drawn out period of tremendous suffering and united effort, women are finally given the vote.

This celebratory section in the piece is represented by Dame Ethel Smyth’s famous piece, ‘The March of The Women’.

The String Quartet

I recorded my piece with my string quartet, all young musicians from Sawston Village College:

Violin 1 – Jacob Fitzgerald Violin 2 – Alex Coleman Viola – Isabel Weston Cello – Emily Holland

USB Stick Contents:

- Project (this document): “March of the Women project.pdf”

- Music score: “March of the Women – Music score.pdf”

- Music performance: “March of the Women - String Quartet.mp3”

- Music performance: “March of the Women - Musescore.mp3” (electronically generated by Musescore software)