''The Boatswain's Mate'' is an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

in one act (but in two parts) written by British composer and

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

Ethel Smyth in 1913–14 set to her own libretto, which was based on a story of the same name by W. W. Jacobs.Banfield, p. 509 It was Smyth's fourth opera, and it is sometimes claimed as a

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

opera. The piece centers around a humorous battle of the sexes featuring a feisty and resourceful heroine who outwits her scheming suitor (but perhaps falls for his accomplice—this is left to the speculation of the reader or audience). In summary, the opera's score has been described by Stephen Banfield as "interspersed with spoken dialogue in part 1, tis symphonically constructed around folksongs and Smyth's own ''March of the Women''; its pacing and orchestration are adroitly managed."

Performance history

From December 1913Collis (1984), pp. 132–133 to May 1914, Smyth stayed at a hotel in

Helwan Helwan ( ', , ) is a suburban district in the Southern Area of Cairo, Egypt. The area of Helwan witnessed prehistoric, ancient Egyptian, Roman and Muslim era activity. More recently it was designated as a city until as late as the 1960s, befor ...

, Egypt, in order to compose ''The Boatswain's Mate'' free from distractions, although she kept up a continual correspondence with

Emmeline Pankhurst Emmeline Pankhurst (; Goulden; 15 July 1858 – 14 June 1928) was a British political activist who organised the British suffragette movement and helped women to win in 1918 the women's suffrage, right to vote in United Kingdom of Great Brita ...

. The hotel, formerly the palace of

Tewfik Pasha Mohamed Tewfik Pasha ( ''Muḥammad Tawfīq Bāshā''; April 30 or 15 November 1852 – 7 January 1892), also known as Tawfiq of Egypt, was khedive of Khedivate of Egypt, Egypt and the Turco-Egyptian Sudan, Sudan between 1879 and 1892 and the s ...

, was suggested by her friend

Ronald Storrs Sir Ronald Henry Amherst Storrs (19 November 1881 – 1 November 1955) was an official in the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Foreign Office. He served as Oriental Secretary in Cairo, Military Governor of Jerusalem, Governor of Britis ...

, who was an official under Lord Kitchener in Cairo. On returning to Europe, Smyth arranged for the opera's premiere to take place at

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in March 1915, as well as scheduling her earlier opera ''

The Wreckers The Wreckers were an American country music duo formed in 2005 by Michelle Branch and Jessica Harp, both of whom had solo recordings before the duo's foundation. In 2006, the duo released its debut album '' Stand Still, Look Pretty'', which pr ...

'' for February 1915 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. However, these plans were overtaken by the outbreak of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The first performance of ''The Boatswain's Mate'' eventually took place at the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, on 28 January 1916 under Smyth.

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philh ...

entrusted the premiere to Eugene Goossens but on the day " e composer herself elected to conduct the première of her work—much to my annoyance, as I had taken all the preliminary orchestral rehearsals. At the last moment she took over the baton, thinking herself the Heaven-sent conductor she was not." The opera uses a number of folk melodies, including "The Keeper" and " Lord Randall", as well as "Bushes and Briars","''The Boatswain's Mate''. Opera of a Country Inn." ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 29 January 1916. p. 11. which provides the theme for the intermezzo. The

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...

was based on Smyth's earlier composition, " The March of the Women". Reviews in ''

'' drew a distinction between the

ballad opera The ballad opera is a genre of England, English ''comic opera'' stage play that originated in the early 18th century, and continued to develop over the following century and later. Like the earlier ''comédie en vaudeville'' and the later ''Sings ...

style of part 1,"The Aldwych Opera. ''The Boatswain's Mate'' Reheard." ''The Times'', 29 July 1916. p. 11. with its light-hearted dialogue and songs, and the

sung-through A sung-through or through-sung stage musical, musical film, opera, or other work of performance art is one in which songs entirely or almost entirely replace any spoken dialogue. Conversations, speeches, and musings are communicated musically, ...

style of part 2, which they found heavy and less appropriate to the libretto. The chorus of agricultural labourers in part 1 was also praised."''The Boatswain's Mate''. Performance at the Old Vic." ''The Times'', 31 March 1922. p. 10."''The Boatswain's Mate''. Opening of the Old Vic Opera Season." ''The Times'', 6 October 1922. p. 7. The opera was performed with full orchestra and chorus a number of times at the

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

, Covent Garden, in the 1920s. Smyth's music subsequently went out of fashion and no productions had been recorded for more than 50 years until a chamber version of the opera was arranged by the Primavera Productions theatre company at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

in London in June 2007. In 2018, ''The Boatswain's Mate'' was performed at the Grimeborn Festival, Arcola Theatre, London.

Roles

Synopsis

:Place: England :Time: 20th century

Part One

Mrs Waters is a widow running a lonely country inn called "The Beehive". She has no wish to remarry. Among her customers is a retired

boatswain A boatswain ( , ), bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, or the third hand on a fishing vessel, is the most senior Naval rating, rate of the deck department and is responsible for the ...

, Harry Benn. After rejecting his latest offers of marriage, she goes off on an errand, leaving him minding the pub. He decides on a plot to win her heart, and sets it in motion when Ned Travers, a broke ex-soldier, comes in. Benn persuades him to pretend to burgle the inn, so that Benn can play the heroic rescuer.

Part Two

That night, Travers breaks in. Seeing Mrs Waters come down the stairs with a gun, he hides in a cupboard, and she locks him in. When she threatens to shoot, he tells her the truth and agrees to help her get revenge. She discharges the gun and screams for help, while Travers hides upstairs. Benn rushes in, but is horrified when she tells him she has killed the burglar. She sends Benn outside to dig a grave. Overcome with remorse, he gives himself up to a passing policeman. They come inside, only to find Travers alive and well, and depart in confusion. Mrs Waters is left alone with the charming Travers, and her opposition to marriage starts to weaken.

Recordings

On 2 October 1916, Smyth conducted excerpts from the opera with members of the original cast. From Part One, the overture (featuring Gilbert Barton and W. Gordon Walker, piccolos), “When rocked on the billows” (Courtice Pounds), “The Keeper” (Barton and Gordon Walker), “A friend and I were on a pier” (Frederick Ranalow), “Contrariness - What if I were young again” (Rosina Buckman). From Part Two, “Oh! dear, if I had known” (Buckman and Ranalow), “The first thing to do is get rid of the body” (Buckman, Pounds and Ranalow) and “When the sun is setting” (Buckman and Ranalow). The recordings were issued by His Master's Voice as “Overture” (parts 1 & 2, D. 445), “When rocked on the billows” (D. 446), “The Keeper” (D. 448), “A friend and I were on a pier” (D. 447), (a) “Contrariness” (b) “What if I were young again” (D. 448), “Oh! dear, if I had known” (D. 448), “The first thing to do is get rid of the body” (D. 447), “When the sun is setting” (D. 447). The first complete, modern recording of the 75-minute opera was released by Retrospect Opera in July 2016, conducted by the Smyth interpreter and champion Odaline de la Martinez. This two-CD release also includes transfers of all of the excerpts from the opera recorded by Smyth in 1916. The overture features on recordings by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ronald Corp (Dutton Laboratories, CDLX 7276), and by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by Rumon Gamba (Chandos, CHAN 10898). Two arias sung by Mrs Waters ("What if I were young again" and "Suppose you mean to do a given thing") have been recorded by EMI as part of a CD of Ethel Smyth's music.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

British Composers: Ethel Smyth, EMI distribution 567426-2
Retrieved 1 March 2013.

References

Notes Cited sources * * * * * * *

External links

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Performance details

, 2007
Retrospect Opera: ''The Boatswain's Mate''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boatswains Mate, The English-language operas Operas by Ethel Smyth English comic operas 1914 operas Operas Operas set in the British Isles One-act operas