Smith: Symphony in A minor / Andante for Clarinet and Orchestra / Symphony in C minor

Penguin Stereo Guide - Rosette Recording

"The sound-quality nicely balances warmth and detail, and the music itself is undemanding if delightful to listen to"
(MusicSource.com)

The fact that these works have, until now, remained unrecorded perhaps bears witness to the fact that
the discrimination confronted by Alice Mary Smith over a hundred years ago has still not been entirely
eradicated. Smith wrote by far the greatest number of orchestral works of any nineteenth-century British woman composer and the success of her orchestral and choral works gave rise to a heated discussion as to whether a woman could ever compose a work of greatness. Her finely crafted and inventive music is the story of a wife and mother battling against prejudice and, in the eyes of her contemporaries at least, succeeding.

All the works here receive their premiere recordings.

Howard Shelley is increasingly making a name for himself by conducting intriguing rarities on disc. In November Chandos released his recordings of music by the international pianist Robert Casadesus. His earlier disc of Hummel's mandolin and trumpet concertos was very well received.

Alice Mary Smith's music bears the influences of Mendelssohn and Spohr, and although it uses traditionally classical structures, it is distinctive in its use of lyrical subjects and daring modulations.