This book offers a vital contribution to the study of women in classical music, focusing on composer Maria Hester Park. It addresses a significant gap in scholarship on late 18th- and early 19th-century women composers, examining Park’s life, keyboard works, influence within London’s cultural milieu, and professional networks within a male-dominated musical world. The book explores her performances, engagement with subscription publishing, and the societal expectations shaping female musical accomplishments, encouraging a broader recognition of women’s artistic legacies from this period.
This book is an important contribution to the study of women in classical music, specifically focusing on the life and works of Maria Hester Park. It fills a significant gap in the literature surrounding women composers in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
1. Beloved by All Who Had the Advantage of Knowing Her
1.1 Harmonies of Life: Marriage, Music, and Cultural Influence
2. Performing and Teaching in the Heart of Londons Cultural Life
2.1 Londons Concert Life
2.2 Public Concert Performances
2.3 Teaching the Nobility and Female Musical Training
3. Composing for the Keyboard and the Cultivation of Female Accomplishments
3.1 Maria Hester Parks Compositions
3.2 The Keyboard Instrument
4. Publishing with Subscription
4.1 The Subscription Method
4.2 The Subscription of Parks Works
5. The Glees
5.1 The English Glee
5.2 Parks Glees
6. The Concerto for the Pianoforte or Harpsichord
6.1 The Keyboard Concerto
6.2 Parks Concerto
7. Solo Keyboard Sonatas Opp. 2, 4, and 7
7.1 The Sonata
7.2 Sonatas Op. 2
7.3 Sonatas Op. 4
7.4 Sonata Op. 7
8. The Waltz, Divertimentos Op. 8, and Sonata Op. 12
8.1 The Waltz
8.2 Six Easy Divertimentos for the Harp and Pianoforte, Op. 8
8.3 A Sonata for the Pianoforte, Op. 12
9. Accompanied Keyboard Works
9.1 The Accompanied Keyboard Sonata
9.2 Parks Divertimento
9.3 The Sonatas Op. 1
9.4 The Sonatas Op. 13
9.5 The Sociological Factor
9.6 The Accompanied Sonata and the New Woman
10. Maria Hester Park and Her Women Composer Colleagues
10.1 Women Composers in England
10.2 The Confusion with Maria F. Parke
10.3 The Woman Composer Question Revisited
Bibliography
Lise Karin Meling is an associate professor of music history at the Faculty of Performing Arts, University of Stavanger, Norway, where she teaches music history, performance practice, and harpsichord performance. Her research spans the roles of women composers and their social status in the 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as the significance of domestic music-making in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In recent years, she has expanded her work to include the gendered history of musical instruments, particularly keyboard instruments, and the study of subscription lists in England in relation to women composers. Dr Meling has authored a wide range of scholarly articles, book chapters, and textbooks in music history. As a harpsichord performer, she is committed to bringing lesser-known works by women composers to light. She is also an active participant in national and international conferences, contributing to lecture recitals, interviews, and media appearances.