Maria Hester Park (1760-1813) - Sonata for the Harpsichord (c.1796)

Happy birthday Maria Hester Park! 💖🎹

Composer: Maria Hester Park (1760-1813)
Work: Sonata (C Major) for the Harpsichord, Op.VII (c.1796)
Performers: Barbara Bаіrd (harpsichord)

Sonata for the Harpsichord (c.1796)
1. Allegro spirito 0:00
2. Larghetto 4:55
3. Rondo, allegramente 7:02

Painting: Arthur Devis (1712-1787) - Members of the Maynard Family in the Park at Waltons
HD image: https://flic.kr/p/2qfz7f4

Further info: https://s9.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/1/11/IMSLP537648-PMLP869240-mhpark_sonataop7_bl.pdf
Listen free: No available

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Maria Hester Park [née Reynolds]
(29 September 1760 - Hampstead, 7 June 1813)

English composer and teacher. She played the harpischord and piano in public concerts and taught music to members of the nobility, including the Duchess of Devonshire and her daughters. In April 1787 she married the engraver and man of letters Thomas Park (1759-1834). On 22 October 1794 Haydn wrote to thank Park for sending him two charming prints, enclosing ‘for the Mistris Park a little Sonat’ with the promise of visiting her within a few days. Although she suffered from ill-health for many years, her family life was a happy one; her husband wrote several touching poems to her. Her surviving music, spanning a quarter of a century, is that of a very competent, professional composer. Her sonatas are varied and spirited, while the concerto for keyboard and strings reveals an individual voice, particularly in the final rondo. Earlier reference works confuse her with the singer and composer Maria F. Parke, to the extent of calling the singer Maria Hester Parke; the British Library Catalogue of Printed Music clearly distinguishes the two. Her keyboard sonatas opp.1 and 2 were published under her maiden name.