Multitude of Voyces

Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759–1824)

Maria Theresia von Paradis was born into a family closely connected with the Austrian court: this association brought her into contact with high-ranking musicians throughout her life, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Antonio Salieri, from whom she received Composition lessons. A virtuoso pianist and organist and skilled singer, her musical potential might have been hampered by her loss of sight in early childhood, were it not for the determination of her mother and the financial support of Empress Maria Theresia (after whom von Paradis was named). A composer from early adulthood, she wrote operas, cantatas, songs and works for piano, using a compositional aid devised by her librettist, Johann Riedinger, to enable her to notate her works more easily. In later life she dedicated herself to her own private music school where she taught singing and piano, with the express intention of improving educational opportunities for girls and women.

Olivia Sparkhall comments on her arrangement of this piece

'My work to make choral repertoire by historical women composers more easily accessible has led me to research the lives and works of hundreds of women composers from the last 1000 years. Focussing on expanding the repertoire available for upper voices, in particular, my intention has been to make it much easier for school, church, youth and adult choirs to perform a more diverse selection of composers from previous centuries, dispelling the falsely-held view that there were ‘no women composers’ in the past. Among the modern editions of works I have produced sits that of the Austrian pianist, singer and composer, Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759-1824). She went blind as a young child and used a specially invented composition board to compose. This piece comes from a set of 12 songs, written whilst on tour of west Europe (including London and Paris), which she dedicated to her patroness Princess Louise. In order for it to be suitable for publication in the Multitude of Voyces’ Christmas Anthology, I have substituted the original words with ‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’, words which can be found in the Gebetbuchlein des Frater Conradus (Father Conrad’s little prayer-book, c.1582). I have set the same three verses that appear in The Oxford Book of Carols; I feel they suit von Paradis’s spritely melody and ever-changing, entwining accompaniment patterns. My source for the von Paradis, and several other of the pieces in my project, is the wonderful Musikalischer Hausschatz Der Deutschen. Eine Sammlung Von über 1000 Liedern Und Gesängen Mit Singweisen Und Klavierbegleitung. This collection of over a thousand German songs from the 18th and 19th centuries truly is a treasure trove of music by the men and women of Germany’s rich musical heritage.'

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