Alice Smith

1839-1884

If for no other reason than she is widely believed to be the first English woman to compose a symphony, Alice Smith merits our attention. She was something of a child prodigy, and had published her first song aged 16.

The almost total absence of female composers from the playlists of popular classical music stations is something of a disappointment. But it would only be fair to note that female composers are routinely avoided by concert organisers too.

This may be something of a result of historical attitudes but it does not change the fact there are many female composers of quality whose works are routinely overlooked. And I would count Alice Smith among them.

She was only 24 when her Symphony number 1 (in C minor) was published. By 1867 she had been elected “Female Professional Associate of the Royal Philharmonic Society.” In the same year she married a lawyer, Frederick Meadows White.

Smith was a prolific composer although she only completed two symphonies, she managed two operettas and in addition to dozens of songs and choral works, a substantial body of chamber music.

By 1884 she had established a formidable reputation in recognition of which she was made an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music. Just as it seemed her career might really take off, the same year she contracted typhoid and died.

Today her music is largely overlooked. It deserves a revival.

Her second symphony (below) is a work that sits on the cusp between classical and romantic, but is an exceptional work that deserves to be much better known.