Soulmate

Donald Macleod explores a musician also remarkable for her sporting prowess. Today, unpacking Ethel Smyth’s romantic and creative partnership with Harry Brewster.

British composer Dame Ethel Smyth was one of the early 20th century’s most original cultural voices. A prodigious musical talent who was best known for her operas, she was a force of nature, an unapologetic eccentric who didn’t suffer fools gladly, and a rule-breaking, trailblazing feminist. Alongside music, she was an accomplished sportswoman, and her driven and playful nature - as well as her endurance - would not only shape her career but her personal life too. All this week, Donald Macleod explores Smyth’s story through what she termed her “passions” – the key all-consuming relationships that changed the course of her life, and how they were a necessary force for her creativity.

Today, we hear about the only man Ethel ever loved. It all began with a dramatic love triangle in Italy, and, following a 5-year freeze-out and a momentous reunion which she deemed “the pivot” of her life, she built a relationship with the writer Harry Brewster. Their decades-long dalliance would be Ethel’s most stable and longstanding love - she saw him as her greatest friend and soulmate. But their bond was artistic too, and their collaborations yielded two major operas – Der Wald and The Wreckers.

Piano Suite in E major (ii. Bourree)
Liana Serbescu, piano

Piano Trio (iii. Scherzo)
Chagall Trio

4 Songs (ii. The Dance)
Lucy Stevens, contralto
Berkeley Ensemble
Odaline de la Martinez, conductor

Serenade in D major (3rd and 4th movements)
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra
Joshua Weilerstein, conductor

Der Wald: Scene IX and epilogue
Natalya Romaniw, soprano (Röschen)
Claire Barnett-Jones, mezzo (Iolanthe)
Robert Murray, tenor (Heinrich)
BBC Singers
BBC Symphony Orchestra
John Andrews, conductor

The Wreckers: Overture
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Sakari Oramo, conductor

Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West