Alice Mary Smith London Mozart Players, Shelley

Alice Mary Smith was the first British woman to have composed a symphony and had it performed. She studied privately at the Royal Academy of Music, and her Symphony in C minor, written at the age of twenty-four, was premiered at the London Musical Society in November 1863, receiving a good press. What a fine work it is, attractively tuneful throughout and with a practiced grasp of orchestration and form. It has a particularly delightful second movement, Allegretto amorevole, with a folksy principal melody of real memorability. The Scherzo opens with rollicking horns, and even the Victorian Maestoso finale lightens up a bit.

The romantic Andante of the A minor Symphony, a work that strikes the listener as immediately Mendelssohnian in its richly lyrical forward impetus, opens with the horns and then offers a flowing cantilena. The third movement is a little like a Ländler, the finale boisterous and confident. A lot of symphonies are written and heard occasionally and yet few are as enjoyable as this pair by Smith.

'The Andante for Clarinet and Orchestra, delicately scored and persuasively played here by Angela Malsbury, again demonstrates Smith's easy melodic gifts, very songlike and pleasing. Howard Shelley and the London Mozart Players are admirable advocates throughout, and this CD is most enjoyable.'
Penguin Guide to Compact Discs.