Smith: Two Overtures

The concert overture was the most popular genre in concerts in Victorian England, at least one such appearing in virtually every orchestral concert program. Alice Mary Smith (1839–84) was the most prolific woman composer of her time, producing the greatest number of large-scale orchestral and choral works, as well as chamber compositions, of any of her gender, and at a time when women were only considered capable of writing drawing-room songs and piano miniatures. Of Smith's six overtures, The Masque of Pandora (1878) and Jason, or The Argonauts and the Sirens (1879) are the most mature. Both were acclaimed in her day, receiving three and two performances, respectively, under such distinguished conductors as Wilhelm Ganz, August Manns, and Sir Julius Benedict. The introduction to the edition outlines Smith's contribution to the genre, discussing her earlier overtures. It contains press reports and letters about the works from such eminent musicians as Charles Grove and George Alexander Macfarren, and also reproduces the program notes from the aforementioned performances.