Serenade in D Major

• Smyth composed this orchestral work in 1889.¹
• This work was commissioned by August Manns for his Crystal Palace Orchestra.²
• This work premiered on April 26, 1890,³ in a concert at the Crystal Palace, which constituted her orchestral debut in England. Her Anthony and Cleopatra Overture was also on the program.⁴
  • At this concert, critics were surprised to learn that the composer “E.M. Smyth” was a woman. 

“…Rather to my surprise Manns had at once accepted my Serenade and put it on one of his April programmes. This would be the first public performance of any orchestral work of mine, and indeed of any work at all in England… 

…When the great day came the excitement at home was immense, even Papa, who had never been at a real concert in his life, insisted on being present. The Serenade was admirably rendered, and since it was a first work, one could more or less count on a good reception…”

Reflections on the premiere of the Serenade, from Smyth’s autobiography Impressions that Remained (1919)⁵

1. Ethel Smyth, Serenade in D Major for Orchestra, Ed. John L. Snyder (Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2021). 
2. “MS Mus. 242. DAME ETHEL SMYTH: Serenade in D major for orchestra; 1889,” The British Library, accessed February 25, 2022, https://searcharchives.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?tabs=detailsTab&ct=display&fn=search&doc=IAMS040-001946358&indx=1&recIds=IAMS040-001946358&recIdxs=0&elementId=0&renderMode=poppedOut&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&dscnt=0&frbg=&scp.scps=scope%3A%28BL%29&tab=local&dstmp=1545514700990&srt=rank&mode=Basic&&dum=true&vl(freeText0)=smyth%20serenade&vid=IAMS_VU2.
3. Ethel Smyth, Serenade in D Major for Orchestra, Ed. John L. Snyder (Middleton, WI: A-R Editions, 2021).
4. Sophie Fuller, “Smyth, Dame Ethel,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed July 7, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000026038. 
5. Sophie Fuller, “Smyth, Dame Ethel,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed July 7, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000026038.