About Alice Mary Smith

During her lifetime, British composer Alice Mary Smith (1839 - 1884) was respected and renowned. Her orchestral compositions were performed and received positive feedback from the British press, which was quite an accomplishment given the fact that she was only in her mid-twenties when her first works were premiered. However, her initial success did not lead to her orchestral music being published, meaning that after these first performances, there would not be many additional performances for an extended period of time. One of the reasons for this included her gender. At that time, few female composers had works for orchestra published, regardless of the merits of the composer or the quality of the compositions. She also died at a relatively young age and was therefore not in a position to promote her works. In fact, all of her hand-written manuscripts lay dormant in the possession of her heirs for well over a century. Fortunately, near the end of the 20th century her music resurfaced and due to the thoughtful efforts of numerous individuals, the world can once again know of Alice Mary Smith.

Thanks to modern publishing practices, many of her orchestral works are now available in a printed format or in a digital format from Zephyrwindmusic. Due to modern publishing practices, the cost of performing Smith’s works need not be exorbitant. Often times when antiquated, old-school legacy publishers make new orchestral works or new editions of existing works available, they choose to rent the works and charge exorbitant prices for a conductor’s score. For obvious reasons this can be negative for new composers but it can also have the same effect on new editions of older works. If purchasing a score is outlandishly expensive and high rental fees make the cost of a single performance approach $1000, it is hardly motivation for a conductor or an institution to perform a little-known work by a composer that is also not well-known.

One of the goals at Zephyrwindmusic is to make works easily accessible at a reasonable price. Another goal is versatility. Publications are available in both analog form – printed on paper – and as a digital download. All Zephyrwindmusic publications also come with an Unlimited Copy License, thus removing any copyright issues in the way parts are used. Parts can be legally uploaded to a reading device such as an iPad for performance or even uploaded onto a website for players to access. Legacy publishers rarely, if ever, allow this.

In order to more easily bring Alice Mary Smith’s works to the public, Zephyrwindmusic is providing free downloads of all Alice Mary Smith orchestral scores it publishes. Parts for performance are also available at a reasonable price. It is well past the time for audiences to hear this wonderful composer’s music.