Introduction
What sort of piano music should we imagine Elizabeth Bennet playing in the drawing rooms of Longbourn and Meryton? The only name dropped in Jane Austen’s novels is John Baptist Cramer, but we do know of other widely published composers of the day; several were women, and one of the most celebrated was Maria Hester Park, née Reynolds.
ON May 19th 1794, the illustrious Joseph Haydn hosted a benefit concert in London’s Hanover Square Rooms for ‘Mrs Park.’* Maria Hester Park was already familiar to the public after appearing (under her maiden name of Reynolds) alongside Jane Mary Guest in one of Muzio Clementi’s concerts back in 1783, and as soloist in a concerto the following year. Her career as both performer and composer had subsequently blossomed.
Haydn returned home with two prints by Maria’s husband Thomas Park, who specialised in mezzotint reproductions of fine art. The following October Haydn sent an engagingly misspelt thank-you which included the autograph of a new Sonata in D major, apparently composed while in England, dedicated to ‘Mistris Park’.*
Maria rarely performed in public thereafter, but became a sought-after teacher and continued to compose sonatas,* songs and even a piano concerto, in style recalling Haydn’s pupil Mozart though with touches all her own. Today, she is acknowledged as one of the most accomplished composers of Jane Austen’s generation.
* Maria Hester Reynolds Park (1760-1813) is often confused with her contemporary Maria Frances Parke Beardmore, both of whom played and composed for the piano. Maria Frances was the daughter of oboist John Parke, and married John Beardmore in 1815; Maria Hester Reynolds married poet and engraver Thomas Park in 1787. The confusion has been cleared up by Thomas Tolley in ‘Music and Letters’ 82 (2001), who established that Maria Hester Reynold Park was the recipient of Haydn’s sonata.
* Scholars have identified the sonata as Hob. XVI:51, dedicated “Ein Andante und Finale, das Haydn in England für eine Dame, die das Original-manuskript behielt, komponiert hatte.” “I tack me the liberty” wrote Haydn in his letter “to Send for the Mistris Park a little Sonat.”
* Piano sonatas were a relatively new musical fashion. In his ‘History of English Music’, critic Henry Davey (1853-1929) tells us that “A set by Maria Hester Reynolds (1785) deserves mention as the first serious attempt by a woman, and they are not below the average.” Indeed, the pianoforte was itself new: its inventor Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) had introduced it to the Italian nobility in the 1700s, but it was slow to catch on: in England, it was still being advertised as ‘a new instrument’ in a Covent Garden playbill dated May 16th, 1767. Growing popularity in the 1760s prompted Europe’s leading composers to write Sonatas for it.
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Précis
A few years after Maria Hester Reynolds married artist Thomas Park, distinguished Austrian composer Joseph Haydn presided over one of her concerts. Thomas gave Haydn two prints as a present, and Haydn returned the compliment by dedicating a sonata to Maria. Maria retired from the stage, but became a respected teacher and composer, publishing several well-regarded sonatas for the piano. (60 / 60 words)
A few years after Maria Hester Reynolds married artist Thomas Park, distinguished Austrian composer Joseph Haydn presided over one of her concerts. Thomas gave Haydn two prints as a present, and Haydn returned the compliment by dedicating a sonata to Maria. Maria retired from the stage, but became a respected teacher and composer, publishing several well-regarded sonatas for the piano.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, despite, not, or, ought, unless, whereas, who.
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Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
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For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 But. Return. Specialize.
2 Dedicate. May. Reproduction.
3 Performer. She. Subsequent.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
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Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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