Dame Ethel Smyth (1858–1944) was a composer, writer, and social activist. Dr Edith Somerville (1858–1949) was a writer and a painter. Both chose to lead lives that were unconventional for upper-middle-class women of the time, dedicating themselves to shaping their careers rather than conforming to societal expectations. As such, their lives and artistic outputs have provoked much scholarly interest, with their first biographies appearing in the 1950s. Longer and more controversial perspectives were given by subsequent biographers, notably Maurice Collis (1968), Louise Collis (1984), and Gifford Lewis (2005). In each of these publications, sexuality is a contentious issue, with each author offering competing readings of Smyth and Somerville’s relationship.

This paper introduces a new project on Somerville and Smyth that responds to the need for a more thorough and objective appraisal of their twenty-five-year friendship. It provides a brief biographical sketch to contextualise their relationship before turning to examine some of the authorial biases present in the biographies addressed above. Finally, it draws on archival material from the early 1920s to interrogate these authorial biases and offer additional perspectives from both women.

Dr Hannah Millington is a Research Assistant at TU Dublin Conservatoire and the Education and Admin Officer for Chamber Choir Ireland. She holds a PhD from Dublin City University and her doctoral thesis examined Ethel Smyth’s under-explored vocal works from a biographical, historical, and socio-cultural perspective. Her broader research interests include women’s musical networks; women’s biographies; vocal works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; and the relationship between music and literature.