"The March of the Women" is a song composed byEthel Smyth in 1910, to words byCicely Hamilton. It became the official anthem of theWomen's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and more widely the anthem of thewomen's suffrage movement throughout the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Activists sang it not only at rallies but also in prison while they were onhunger strike. Smyth produced a number of different arrangements of the work.
Ethel Smyth composed the song in 1910, as aunison song with optionalpiano accompaniment, with words by Cicely Hamilton.[1] Smyth based the melody on a traditional tune she had heard inAbruzzo,Italy.[2] She dedicated the song to the WSPU.[1] In January 1911, the WSPU's newspaper,Votes for Women, described the song as "at once a hymn and a call to battle".[3]
"The March of the Women" was first performed on 21 January 1911, by the Suffrage Choir, at a ceremony held onPall Mall, London,[1] to celebrate a release of activists from prison.Emmeline Pankhurst introduced the song as the WSPU's official anthem, replacing "The Women's Marseillaise".[4] The latter song was a setting of words by WSPU activist Florence Macaulay to the tune ofLa Marseillaise.[5]
On 23 March 1911 the song was performed at a rally in theRoyal Albert Hall. Smyth was ceremonially presented with abaton by Emmeline Pankhurst, and proceeded to conduct the whole gathering in singing it. Smyth was active in promoting the performance of the song throughout the WSPU's membership.[6] It became the anthem of the women's suffrage movement throughout the United Kingdom.[7]
A famous rendering of it took place in 1912, atHolloway Prison, after many women activists were imprisoned as a result of a window-smashing campaign. Smyth's part in this had been to break the window ofLewis Harcourt, theSecretary of State for the Colonies.[8] The conductorThomas Beecham visited Smyth in prison and reported that he found the activists in the courtyard "...marching round it and singing lustily their war-chant while the composer, beaming approbation from an overlooking upper window, beat time in almost Bacchic frenzy with a toothbrush."[3]
While imprisoned in April 1913, Emmeline Pankhurst undertook ahunger strike which she did not expect to survive. She told Smyth that at night she would feebly sing "The March of the Women" and another of Smyth's compositions, "Laggard Dawn".[9]
The march was also used during a large demonstration of American suffragists rallying inWashington, D.C., on May 9, 1914.[10] TheCongressional Union for Woman Suffrage sent delegates to march up the Capitol building stairs and present apetition to theU.S. Congress and accompanied by a 1,000 singer chorus.[10]
Smyth arranged the work several times. A version forchoir and optionalorchestra was included inSongs of Sunrise, a collection of three songs premiered on 1 April 1911 at theQueen's Hall, London. The other two songs in the collection were "Laggard Dawn" and "1910". An arrangement of "The March of the Women" for solo piano appeared in 1914 inKing Albert's Book, a fund-raising publication forBelgianrelief. On 6 March 1930, Smyth conducted a version of the march formilitary band, on the occasion of the unveiling of astatue to memorialize Emmeline Pankhurst inVictoria Tower Gardens.[1] The ceremony was presided over byStanley Baldwin, and the performance was by the band of theMetropolitan Police.[11]
The tune of "The March of the Women" also appears in theoverture of Smyth'soperaThe Boatswain's Mate.[12]
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