Â鶹Éç

6 February 2018 marked the hundredth anniversary of the first Act of Parliament allowing women - some women - to vote. To mark the centenary, Â鶹Éç Radio 3 commissioned a new anthem from composer Lucy Pankhurst with words by the women’s rights activist Helen Pankhurst. Both are descendants of the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, founder of the militant WSPU, and the text for the anthem is based on her words.

It isn’t the first suffragette anthem. In 1911, Ethyl Smyth’s stirring March of the Women became the suffragettes' themesong. Its most famous performance took place in 1912 in Holloway Prison, where Smyth was serving a two-month sentence for lobbing stones through politicians’ windows. Sir Thomas Beecham paid Smyth a visit and found her conducting a performance of March of the Women with a toothbrush and - in his words - "beaming approbation".

Being given the vote in 1918 marked the beginning of a century where women strived for equality. Other legislation followed: the same year, women were allowed to become MPs, and in 1919 the Sex Disqualification act opened up new professions for women. In 1923, women were granted divorce on the same grounds as men. In 1925, women had equal guardianship of children and pensions were paid to widows.
But the hurdles were huge. The House of Commons remained a Gentleman’s Club, and Nancy Astor, MP for Plymouth until 1945, became legendary for her ability to deal with hecklers. Many women who grasped the chance for paid work during the war were laid off when the war ended, to free up jobs for men. Lloyd George launched an attack on the idea of employment equality, remarking that "anybody who places before women the prospect of absolute equality is doing something which is inconstant with the nature of things".

Two suffragette anthems by two women a hundred years apart. They also signify one of the most defining and salient movements in classical music this century: the attempt to make more music by more women part of the classical music landscape. It's a seismic shift that has gathered huge momentum, debate and visibility in recent years.

But the same themes resonate. It's a story of pioneering women, of strident landmark firsts where progress is made but then slips quietly back. If we fast-forward another hundred years, will we have reached a point where we can put this to bed and say, truthfully, we have equality?

This is one of 100 significant musical moments explored by Â鶹Éç Radio 3’s Essential Classics as part of Our Classical Century, a Â鶹Éç season celebrating a momentous 100 years in music from 1918 to 2018. Visit bbc.co.uk/ourclassicalcentury to watch and listen to all programmes in the season.

This is an archive recording by the Â鶹Éç Singers conducted by Hilary Campbell.

Show less