Episode 2: Ethel Smyth's statue in Woking, United Kingdom

Sculptor Christine Charlesworth is back to discuss her statue of Dame Ethel Smyth, composer of the suffragette anthem “The March of the Women”, erected in Woking on International Women’s Day in 2022. She is joined by two other members of “Team Ethel”: Riëtte Thomas, project manager for Woking Borough Council, and Christopher Wiley, Head of Music and Media at the University of Surrey. Useful links about things discussedThe Statue: you can read a brief entry on the statue on our map here. Refresher: Christine’s statue to Emily Wilding Davison was the subject of our very first (and immediately previous) episode. Listen here. Unveiling: the video documenting the festivities on the day of the unveiling is visible here.Masterpieces: As Chris mentions during our discussion, the Retrospect Opera has recorded anew a number of Dame Ethel’s operas. You can find their output here. Local Historian/Hero: Our guests mention the labour of love conducted by local historian Lewis Orchard in compiling information about Dame Ethel and keeping her memory alive in Woking. A sample of his work can be found here. Aphra Behn: Want more information about the sculpture of Aphra Behn that Christine mentions at the end? You can find it here. Essential readingGates, Eugene, "Damned if you do and damned if you don't: sexual aesthetics and the music of Dame Ethel Smyth", Journal of Aesthetic Education, vol. 31, no. 1, 1998, pp.-63-71Wiley, Christopher, "Dame Ethel Smyth", Surrey Cultural Lives, published 9 May 2024Wiley, Christopher, "The statue of Dame Ethel Smyth in Dukes Plaza, Woking" Women’s History Review, 32(3), 2023, pp. 424–434Wiley, Christopher, “Ethel Smyth, suffrage, and Surrey: From Firmley Green to Hook Heath, Woking", Women’s History: The Journal of the Women’s History Network, Special Issue: 1918-2018, Vol.2(11), 2018, pp.11-18Wiley, Christopher, "Music and literature: Ethel Smyth, Virginia Woolf, and the "the first woman to write an opera", The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 96, No. 2 (Summer 2013), pp. 263-95.Wiley, Christopher, "'When a woman speaks the truth about her body': Ethel Smyth, Virginia Woolf, and the challenges of lesbian auto/biography." Music and Letters, vol. 85 no. 3, 2004, p. 388-414⁠About UsBronze Ceiling is the podcast series of HerStory Maps, a citizen-science project aiming to map the sites of feminist memory everywhere in the world. The current map is ⁠here⁠ but a much more user-friendly and content rich one (including these podcasts, as well as videos, a serious game and maybe even guided audio tours) will be going live in March 2027 (at the latest)!If you would like to get in touch, please email us at: [email protected] InformationDate of recording: 22 May 2025Host: Marc Calvini-LefebvreResearch: Blanche Plaquevent and Marc Calvini-LefebvreEditing: Blanche Plaquevent and Marc Calvini-Lefebvre