Maria Hester Park

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Maria Hester Park (September 29, 1760 – June 7, 1813) was a gifted British composer, pianist, and singer born to a musical family. She was also a noted piano teacher, and taught many students in the nobility, including the Duchess of Devonshire and all of her daughters. Unfortunately, not much information is available about this very talented musician. Before her marriage, she gave several well-received performances on both the piano and the harpsichord. She married rather late in life to the engraver and “man of words” Thomas Park in April of 1787, and several of his love poems to her are still extant. As with most women, her musical career ended after marrying him. She corresponded with Joseph Haydn, who on October 22, 1794 sent her a sonata of his composing and a thank you note in exchange for two of her pieces. She died in Hampstead, at the age of fifty-three, after many years of suffering from ill health. She is often confused with another Maria Park who composed at the same time, although the other Park was more famous for her singing rather than composing. This is the result of many of her works being published under her maiden name.

She is said to be “one of the most prolific of the 18th century women composers”, and her works are varied, competent, and professionally arranged. Her music has an individual voice that is progressive for her era, with very Mozartean features. For example, her Sonata in F has a constant bass line of straight eighth notes that form the outlines of chords, and a distinct melody with ornamentation. There are also many basic scale patters and simple arpeggios that are nevertheless very effective in forming clear and memorable themes. The majority of her pieces are clean and lack the melodrama of later romantic works. However, the moods behind her pieces do vary; some of her pieces seem unusually dignified, while others are flighty and more fun. The “Women of NoteCards” project, part of Vivace Press (which is dedicated to spreading information about female composers), adopted what are now known as “Hester Park” labels in her memory, as she serves as a model for the website—a clearly very talented composer and musician about whom there is very little information.

Works List:

Extant: Op. 1, Sonatas (1785), Countess of Uxbridge Op. 2, Three Sonatas (1786) Op. 3, A Set of Glees with the Dirge in Cymbeline (?1790) Op. 4, Two Sonatas (1730) Op. 6, Piano Concerto (?1795) Op. 7, Sonata (?1795) Op. 13, Two Sonatas (?1801) Waltz (?1800) Divertimento (?1811)

Lost: Divertimentos Op. 8 No. 6 Duets Op. 9 Sonata with the Berlin Favorite Sonata with Prince Adolphus Fancy

Discography: -Audio CD: “Music by Maria Hester Park, Marie Bigot, and Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel” including: “Allegro” “Tempo di Minuetto” “Allegro Spirito” “Larghetto” “Rondo Allegremente”

-Audio CD: Rags and Riches

-Audio CD: 18th Century Women Composers: Music For Solo Harpsichord vol. 1

-Audio CD: 18th Century Women Composers: Music for Solo Harpsichord vol. 2

Bibliography:

Baldwin, Olive and Wilson, Thelma: ‘Park [nee Reynolds], Maria Hester’, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed [14 Feb 2007]), <http://www.grovemusic.com>

Polmear, Jenny: ‘Maria Hester Park’, <http://www.ambache.co.uk/wPark.htm>

Tuttle, Raymond, “Barbara Harbach, Hester Park and Other Women of Note.” Fanfare 1996, <http://www.umsl.edu/~harbachb/fanfare.htm>