THE CHORAL ANTHEMS OF ALICE MARY SMITH: PERFORMANCE EDITIONS OF THREE ANTHEMS BY A WOMAN COMPOSER IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF ARTS BY CHRISTOPHER E. ELLIS DR. ANDREW CROW - ADVISOR BALL STATE UNIVERSITY MUNCIE, INDIANA MAY, 2014 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank my lovely wife, Mandy, for her constant support during the entire doctoral program. Without her, I would have struggled to maintain my motivation to continue pursuing this degree. My two children, Camden and Anya, have also inspired me to press forward. The joy I see in their faces reminds me of the joy that I find in conducting choral music. I am truly grateful for my wonderful family. I would also like to thank all of the committee members. They each gave generously of their time to meet and guide me through the doctoral process. I would especially like to thank Dr. Crow, who kindly guided me through the steps of the dissertation process, providing insight, direction, and caution, all while pushing me to improve the final product. His advice as an instructor and mentor in matters of conducting and choral music, especially early in the degree program were greatly encouraging and instilled some needed confidence in me. Dr. Ester inspired me to be a better teacher, and proved to be an excellent model to follow as a college professor. I am more confident and effective as a teacher as a result of his teaching and advice. Dr. Karna’s friendliness and prompt communication first attracted me to the program at Ball State, and his flexibility allowed me to balance the course work and caring for my family. Dr. Maurer is always encouraging, and it was enjoyable to speak to her in German. Her diction course helped me improve my ability to consider diction in the choral rehearsal as well as my own singing. Dr. Cancio was a willing soloist for some of the pieces I conducted with the ii iii summer choir. All of the committee members have contributed positively to my experience at Ball State. I would also like to thank the graduate coordinator, Dr. Pohly, and Linda Elliott, who have assisted me in finishing the program from a distance. I was impressed that they both knew me by name from the beginning of my time at Ball State, and felt that they genuinely wanted to help me pursue my goals. ABSTRACT The music of Alice Mary Smith (1839-1884) was mostly forgotten within a decade following her death. During her lifetime, she gained a favorable reputation as a composer and challenged the contemporary notion that women were incapable of composing large-scale works. She was among the first English women to have written a symphony that was performed publicly. In the last four years of her life, Smith wrote some secular choral-orchestral music, which became popular and was published by Novello in London. Thus Smith also became one of the first English women to have large-scale music published. Her output included five sacred choral pieces that were never published. Only two of them have any record of performance. This document investigates some of Smith’s unpublished and forgotten choral music and demonstrates its worthiness for inclusion in the repertoire of modern church choirs. The study includes three of the five unpublished anthems, transcribed into modern performing editions from the manuscript images. These three anthems by Smith belong to a larger collection of sacred music written as part of the English church music reformation, in which church leaders placed more emphasis on choral singing and more elaborate choral music in the service than had been common in the first half of the nineteenth century. The study also considers Smith’s compositions in the context of the Victorian era, in the context of the composer’s legacy, and in the context of the anthem genre. Analysis and critical apparatus are included for each selected anthem. This study concludes that Smith’s anthems bear historic interest because of the pioneering career of the composer; they also bear musical interest, and would be worthy iv v additions to the repertoire of modern church choirs. The music contains a balance of challenge and accessibility that would suit them to average or advanced singers. CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. iv CONTENTS ................................................................................................................................. vi LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION AND NEED FOR THE STUDY ............................................. 1 CHAPTER 2: MUSIC IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND ................................................................... 6 English Music in the Nineteenth Century .......................................................................... 6 Women Composers in Nineteenth-Century England ....................................................... 10 CHAPTER 3: LIFE AND WORKS OF ALICE MARY SMITH ............................................... 20 Smith’s Shifting Legacy .................................................................................................. 20 The Life of Alice Mary Smith ......................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 4: ANALYSES OF THREE ANTHEMS BY SMITH ............................................. 41 Out of the Deep ................................................................................................................ 42 By the Waters of Babylon ................................................................................................ 50 Come Unto Him ............................................................................................................... 63 Summary .......................................................................................................................... 73 CHAPTER 5: SMITH’S ANTHEMS WITHIN THE ANTHEM GENRE ................................. 75 The Anthem in Nineteenth-Century England .................................................................. 75 Placing Smith’s Anthems into the Genre ...........................................................................78 vi vii Characteristics of Victorian Church Music........................................................................79 Comparing Smith’s Anthems to Other Settings.................................................................83 CHAPTER 6: CRITICAL REPORTS ......................................................................................... 90 Out of the Deep ................................................................................................................ 91 By the Waters of Babylon ................................................................................................ 98 Come Unto Him ............................................................................................................. 105 CHAPTER 7: FURTHER STUDY AND CONCLUSIONS ...................................................... 115 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................... 122 APPENDIX: SCORES ............................................................................................................... 125 Out of the Deep ............................................................................................................... 126 By the Waters of Babylon ............................................................................................... 134 Come Unto Him .............................................................................................................. 153 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1. Out of the Deep, mm. 27-29. .......................................................................................45 Figure 4.2. Out of the Deep, mm. 33-36. .......................................................................................46 Figure 4.3. Out of the Deep, comparison of mm. 13-16 and mm. 41-44. ......................................47 Figure 4.4. Out of the Deep, comparison of mm. 18-20 and mm. 44-46. ......................................48 Figure 4.5. Out of the Deep, mm. 131-140. ...................................................................................49 Figure 4.6. By the Waters of Babylon, mm. 56-62. ........................................................................55 Figure 4.7. By the Waters of Babylon, mm. 137-142. ....................................................................56 Figure 4.8. By the Waters of Babylon, mm. 149-152, alto part. ....................................................57 Figure 4.9. By the Waters of Babylon, mm. 182-187. ....................................................................60 Figure 4.10. By the Waters of Babylon, mm. 188-192. ..................................................................60 Figure 4.11. Comparison of By the Waters of Babylon, mm. 211-215 and mm. 219-223. ...........62 Figure 4.12. MS 1613a - The Soul's Longings, Title Page. ...........................................................64