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 Parks life, keyboard works, influence within Londons 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 womens 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.
Recenzijos
Dr Melings excellent new book not only provides new insight into a previously overlooked composer and her works but also provides important contexts for music-makingespecially womens music-makingin Georgian England. It provides essential historical background to the contemporary music scene, music as a profession, and the societal norms of the time. This book is a must-read for musicians, musicologists, and fans of Jane Austen alike.
Prof. Kate Maxwell
UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Norway
In this book, Meling demonstrates how form and analytical methods derived from the classic monograph on the male composer's life and work can be applied to a well-crafted presentation of the female composer, Maria Hester Park. The book also records how Park contributed to enabling women to assume leadership positions in the musical landscape.
Prof. Per Dahl
University of Stavanger, Norway
Maria Hester Park (17601813) is important both for her connections to figures such as Samuel Johnson and Joseph Haydn and for her diverse musical activities. Meling has written what is likely to become the standard account of her life and works. It should be of interest to all studying women in music, British music, or culture in the Georgian era.
Dr Halvor Hosar
Uppsala University, Sweden
This is the late work of one of the most inspiring Norwegian storytellers in feminist musicology. By changing the lighting direction in historiography, Meling invites the reader to give people, music, and cultural practices the attention and the appreciation they deserve.
Prof. Dr Lilli Mittner
UiT Centre for Womens and Gender Research, Norway
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.
