Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (1858-1944) was not an obscure figure during her lifetime, but her road to becoming a respected composer in Victorian England was far from smooth. Smyth became a musician over her family’s strong objections, and studied in Leipzig, where she encountered such contemporaries as Brahms, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák.
Smyth’s Mass in D, written when she was in her thirties and premiered in 1891, is a major work, nearly an hour long and calling for chorus, four vocal soloists, and a large orchestra. Eastman’s student vocal soloists are Mary Fetterman, soprano; Alicia Esmeralda Barry, alto; Xuyue Quing, tenor; and Henry Griffin, baritone.
William Weinert, Eastman’s director of choral activities, says Smyth’s Mass in D is an easy piece to like. “It’s not quite like any other Mass setting. It most reminds me of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Smyth often has the same energy, and like Beethoven, her music is full of sudden contrasts and surprises. But also as in Beethoven, the surprises are skillfully worked into a larger structure.”
Read the full story about Smyth and this concert at Eastman.