Diversifying Your Repertoire: Orchestra Edition

A starter guide to programming British women

When it comes to diversifying repertoire, one of the biggest obstacles is simply knowing where to start. I so often speak to conductors who really want to include music by women in their season, but don’t know a) which works would fit thematically in their programme, b) how long the pieces are, c) where to find the scores, d) what the instrumentation is or e) what the pieces sound like. There’s just too much to choose from — listening to hundreds of hours of music and buying thousands of pounds of scores to find possible pieces simply isn’t feasible. Plus, where scores and recordings of canonic works are usually readily, cheaply available, the same is not true for repertoire that is less often performed. It can take quite a bit of detective work just to find some scores by women composers.

So if you want to diversify your orchestral repertoire, here’s a starter guide to programming some readily available works by historical British and Irish women, including: who they could fit with thematically, playing times, score locations, instrumentation, and recordings. There’s also a whole host of scores by British women in desperate need of performance that have not been recorded — but that’s a post for another day!

Ethel Smyth, Serenade in D Major. This four-movement work which introduced Smyth to the British public in 1890 is a programming gift — it would fit into most programmes including works by the most-played classical composers globally. Playing Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony? Brahms’s Second Symphony? Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony? Great news, the Serenade would complement all these works. Smyth was influenced by Beethoven, friends with Brahms, taught by Tchaikovsky, and her connections to these composers makes her a perfect fit with their works. Alternatively, the Serenade would work in an all-English programme, alongside Elgar’s Symphony No. 1, for example. It’s been recorded by the BBC Philharmonic conducted by Odaline de la Martínez, who has also prepared a performance edition available from Lorelt. Alternatively if you want a facsimile edition, you can get that from A-R Editions. Playing time is c. 36 mins, and instrumentation is 2.2.2.2/3.2.0.0/timp/str.

Elizabeth Maconchy, The Land. One of my favourite orchestral works…ever? This is one of Maconchy’s early orchestral works (1929), and the power and energy running through it is phenomenal. She was influenced by composers including Bartók and Stravinsky — this would work well with either the Concerto for Orchestra or The Rite of Spring. Or it could be placed with music by her tutor Vaughan Williams, showing how tutor and pupil influenced one another — his Fourth Symphony (1934) and Piano Concerto (1931) share much of the dynamism of Maconchy’s suite, while the Fifth Symphony (1943) or The Lark Ascending (1914) might provide a welcome contrast, showing the different directions British music could take in the twentieth century. The Land has been recorded by Odaline de la Martínez, conducting the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. There is a reference copy of the score, published by Lengnick/Ricordi, available to browse online. Playing time is c. 17 mins and instrumentation is 3(3picc).2+cor.2+bass.2/4.3.3.1/timp/perc/hp/str.

Doreen Carwithen, Bishop Rock. This is a brilliant and versatile concert opener. It’s a c. 8 mins overture inspired by the lighthouse on the westernmost point of the Isles of Scilly, and Carwithen conjures up the Atlantic in both storm and calm. I’ve heard it played with Mozart and Elgar, and with Grace Williams and Vaughan Williams at the Proms this year as part of a sea-themed programme. It would also work with William Walton, who was a great inspiration to Carwithen — his First Symphony or Viola Concerto could be great complements. The score is available from Goodmusic, it’s been recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, and the instrumentation is 3(3picc).2+cor.2+bass.1+contra/4.3.3.1/timp/perc/hp/str.

Ina Boyle, Symphony No. 1 ‘Glencree’. Boyle’s music was so little performed in her own day that her tutor, Vaughan Williams, told her that it was ‘most courageous of you to go on with so little recognition. The only thing to say is that it does come finally.’ He proved prophetic, because Boyle is finally starting to have her moment in the sun, with increasing numbers of recordings and performances. Her First Symphony would most obviously complement pieces like The Lark Ascending, or Elgar’s Cello Concerto or Enigma Variations. The luminous string writing in the final movement and tempestuousness of the second movement, though, might be better brought out alongside a piece like Sibelius’s Tapiola or Luonnotar. Playing time is c. 35 mins, there is a recording available here, and the score is available via CMC. Instrumentation is 2.3.3.2/4.2.3.1/timp/hp/str.

Irish composer Ina Boyle

Ruth Gipps, Symphony No. 2. I’ve spoken elsewhere about my love for this symphony, and I stand by every word. This work has everything — humour, romance, drama, the lot, which makes it extremely easy to programme. It was performed at the Proms, for example, with such different pieces as Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel Symphony and Brahms’s Symphony No. 3. With its militaristic moments in the central section it might also sit well alongside Shostakovich’s Fifth, Seventh, or Eleventh Symphonies, presenting quite different visions of conflict. It could also be placed with any of the Vaughan Williams symphonies (Gipps was taught by Vaughan Williams, conducted his works herself, and admired him greatly). Playing time is c. 23 mins, it’s been recorded by Rumon Gamba and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the score and parts are available from Gipps’s rights holder. Instrumentation is 2+2picc.2+cor.2.2/4.2.3.1/timp/perc/hp/str.

Dorothy Howell, Lamia. Lamia caused a sensation when it premiered at the Proms in 1919, and Henry Wood adored this piece so much he called it his ‘little baby’. At around 14 minutes long, Howell’s symphonic poem is based on Keats’s poem about fatal attraction, featuring a snake transformed into a woman. This is a gloriously orchestrated, sumptuous piece. It would sit comfortably alongside Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite, or Sibelius’s Lemminkäinen Suite. The score is available from Novello with an online perusal version, and it has been recorded by Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic. Instrumentation is 3.3.3.3/4.3.3.1/timp/perc/hp/str.

Alice Mary Smith, Symphony in A Minor. Smith was composing during the Victorian period, and this symphony would work perfectly with most of the staples of the late classical/early Romantic canon. Mendelssohn (particularly the Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hebrides Overture, or Third Symphony), Schubert (the incidental music for Rosamunde and Eighth Symphony spring to mind), Beethoven (especially the Second Piano Concerto, Coriolan Overture or Fourth Symphony), Mozart (Clarinet Concerto in particular, as Smith also wrote sensitively for clarinet) — the list goes on. Take your pick! Playing time is c. 27 mins, it’s been recorded by the London Mozart Players, and the score is available from A-R Editions. Instrumentation is 2.2.2.2/2.2.3.0/timp/str.

Grace Williams, Ballads. Grace Williams is such a brilliant orchestral writer that it’s truly astonishing she isn’t played more broadly. The orchestral Ballads are a case in point. They could work with Shostakovich, Britten (with whom she was close friends), Bartók or Stravinsky (who both inspired her), or indeed with The Land by her dear friend Elizabeth Maconchy. There’s a recording available here, and the score is published by Oriana. Playing time is c. 17 mins, instrumentation is 3(3picc).2(2cor).2(2bass).2/4.2.3.1/timp/2perc/hp/str.

Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Sussex Landscape. Avril Coleridge-Taylor has an extensive catalogue, almost none of which has been recorded. The only one of her orchestral works to be recorded so far, by Chineke! Orchestra, is her moody Sussex Landscape, an evocation of the countryside she loved so much. As Chineke! have done on their disc, pairing Avril’s music with her father Samuel works wonderfully. This piece could also complement Rachmaninov (Isle of the Dead or Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini would bring out some of the subtleties of Avril’s work beautifully), or perhaps the Symphony No. 1 in E Minor by Avril’s American contemporary, Florence Price. Playing time is c. 14 mins, the score and parts are available from the Royal College of Music Library, and the instrumentation is 2+picc.2+cor.2.2/4.2.3.0/timp/perc/hp/str.

If you’re trying to locate a score by a British woman that hasn’t been recorded or published, please do contact me. I’m always happy to work with ensembles on programming! If you have suggestions for pairings between canonic repertoire and favourite works by women, let me know in the comments.