RISE UP WITH A SONG

A stirring tribute to a free-spirited composer who rode roughshod over her time’s constraints on women.

Following up her profile of conductor Antonia Brico, In One Ear and Out the Other (2020), illustrated by Morgana Wallace, with a look at another strong-minded woman in music, Worthey introduces a British child who preferred outdoorsy adventures to genteel pursuits, fell in love with music at age 12, and went on to compose operas and chamber pieces despite her father’s displeasure, the necessity of publishing anonymously (in early years, at least), and the refusal of some orchestras to perform anything by a woman. Joining the suffragettes, she set Cicely Hamilton’s anthemic “March of the Women” to music—and after getting herself arrested, led fellow prisoners in performances waving a toothbrush as a baton. Pérez García illustrates that episode and earlier scenes in canted depictions of pale-skinned marchers and musicians in Edwardian dress arranged around a redheaded force of nature aglow with self-confidence. With a final view of a racially diverse group of modern women standing together arm in arm, the author closes with lyrical lines about Smyth’s music marching on to inspire women worldwide “…today, / …tomorrow, / …and forever.” An afterword with photos, a timeline, and a select but lengthy list of sources fills in further details of Smyth’s long career. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A rare nod to a now (but undeservedly) obscure artist, eloquent and inspirational.