Categories
20th Century Late Romantic English

BARNS, Ethel

Ethel Barns
Image courtesy of the Sophie Drinker Institute

Born in 1874
Died in Maidenhead, Dec 31, 1948

  • Ethel Barns was an English violinist and composer who received her formal training at the Royal Academy of Music starting at age 13. By 17, Barns had published her first composition, a Romance for violin and piano.
  • As a composer, Barns wrote most often for her primary instrument, the violin. Her music ranges from short, inventive solo pieces to large-scale works for violin and orchestra.
  • Following her marriage to baritone Charles Phillips, the couple established their popular Barns-Phillips Chamber Concerts at London’s Bechstein Hall.
    • Barns regularly programmed her own music for these concerts, which helped her gain notoriety as a composer. Prominent violinists like Joseph Joachim soon started adding her music to their repertoire.
  • Like Ethel Smyth, Barns actively participated in the fight for women’s equality. She served on the first council of the Society of Women Musicians, which was founded in 1911.1

Learn More

Short biography from Naxos

Sources

  1. Sophie Fuller, “Barns, Ethel,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed March 29, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000045629.

Pieces