International Women's Day

With today being International Women's Day 2021, our College Organist, Mr Wright has recorded two lovely pieces for you to enjoy.
- Meditation on 'Pange Lingua' - Mary Beth Bennett (based on an ancient hymn for Lent)
- Chorale Prelude: 'Erschienen ist derr herrlich' Tag' (Appeared is the glorious day) - Ethel Smyth (1858-1944)
Dr Mary Beth Bennett is an American composer and organist living in Richmond, Virginia.
Dame Ethel Smyth was a prolific composer, but at a time when female composers were not recognised as they should be. She was also a member of the suffragette movement. She studied at the Leipzig Conservatoire and met some of the leading composers of the day, including Dvorak, Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Clara Schumann and Brahms. She wrote an opera called 'The Wreckers'! This is one of several chorale preludes for organ in which the influence of J S Bach and also Brahms is apparent.