Even with the revival of fortune in the reputations of women composers, the music of Dame Ethel Smyth has remained obscure. She was the first woman to have a work (Der Wald) performed at the Metropolitan Opera (the second was Kaija Saariaho, in 2016), and she had a flair for vocal writing. This is the world premiere of The Prison, which Smyth titled a Symphony for Soprano, Bass-baritone, Chorus, and Orchestra, but which might better be described as a cantata. The text by H.B. Brewster is a dialogue between a dying prisoner ...
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Even with the revival of fortune in the reputations of women composers, the music of Dame Ethel Smyth has remained obscure. She was the first woman to have a work (Der Wald) performed at the Metropolitan Opera (the second was Kaija Saariaho, in 2016), and she had a flair for vocal writing. This is the world premiere of The Prison, which Smyth titled a Symphony for Soprano, Bass-baritone, Chorus, and Orchestra, but which might better be described as a cantata. The text by H.B. Brewster is a dialogue between a dying prisoner and his own soul, and in this, it's a bit reminiscent of the metaphysical Bach cantatas representing the soul. That's about as far as comparisons can go, however, in conveying what to expect. The work, to paraphrase James Thurber, is very much like nothing you've heard before. It is tonal in orientation, but it is not a Romantic or pastoral work, and as with much of Smyth's music, it fit none of the "-isms" of the day. The division in style between the two vocal parts is sharp; the...
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