Dame Ethel Smyth continues to inspire

Surrey's records contribute to a new theatre performance

It's always interesting when visitors come from farther afield to use our collections at Surrey History Centre, and when we see their work come to life. One of these visitors is Claudia Edermayer, an Austrian author, storyteller and performance artist, and a huge fan of our very own 'Duchess of Woking', the composer, suffragette, and author Dame Ethel Smyth.

The Stormy Petrel

Claudia visited us back in September 2022 to use our extensive Smyth holdings for researching a new theatre performance piece. That work, Der Sturmvogel (The Stormy Petrel), is now complete and premiered at Linz in March. The next performances will be in October in Munich, Ebensee, Rohrbach and then Linz again. The work is based on scenes from Ethel's colourful life and uses her correspondence to tell her story. You can see a short video extract of the premiere and find out more about Claudia's work, (make sure to use Google translate).

From 1877 Smyth studied music in Germany and some of the correspondence researched by Claudia is held at The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy", in Leipzig, which holds 59 letters from Ethel Smyth to her mother and father, and her sister, Mary Smyth, many of which have been digitised and appear on the Kalliope catalogue website. You can also view the digitised versions of Ethel's Enrolment Register entry, 11 Oct 1877 (Ethel Smyth, number 2753).

In the spotlight

Ten years ago, if you Googled Ethel Smyth our own Exploring Surrey's Past webpage was virtually top of a pretty short list, and you would be hard-pushed to find a dozen credible online references to her. Today, Ethel is well and truly having her moment, from performances of her work at the Proms and Glyndebourne, to 'Woman's Hour' on Radio 4.

More archive organisations are realising the growing interest in forgotten or overlooked female composers, the Women's Rights movement, and the lived experience of LGBTQ+ women over the last 100 years and are making material accessible online relating to Ethel's life and works.

We like to think that our continuous raising awareness of Ethel in our collections over the last 20 years, and the work of Smyth enthusiasts, including our own volunteer Smyth expert, Lewis Orchard, and Dr Chris Wiley at the University of Surrey, we've played a part in her well-deserved renaissance.