1827–1898 · United Kingdom · Romantic
Maria Lindsay (Bliss by marriage) lived from 1827 to 1898 and wrote songs, both sacred and popular, often to the words of contemporary poets. She was among the first women to find commercial success as a songwriter in nineteenth-century England. The site offers her music for voice and piano.
Maria Lindsay was born in Wimbledon on 15 May 1827. In 1858 she married the Reverend John Worthington Bliss. Her name also appears as Maria Lindsay Bliss or Mrs John Worthington Bliss.
Lindsay was a songwriter who produced both sacred and popular pieces. For her texts she often turned to poets of her own day. In London she held an exclusive contract with the publisher Robert Cocks. She was among the first women to earn commercial success as a songwriter in nineteenth-century England.
Among Lindsay's selected works is "Excelsior", to words by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated 1854. "Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead", to words by Lord Alfred Tennyson, is dated 1858, the year of her marriage. There were other poets too: "The Owl and the Pussycat", for instance, uses words by Edward Lear.
Maria Lindsay died on 3 April 1898 in Betteshanger, Kent.
Lindsay wrote sacred and popular songs, often to the words of contemporary poets. The list of selected works includes songs to texts by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "A Psalm of Life", "Daybreak", "Excelsior", "Hymn of the Moravian Nuns at Bethlehem", "Stars of the Summer Night", "The Bridge" and "The Old Clock on the Stairs".
Songs to words by Lord Alfred Tennyson include "The Song of Love and Death", "Too Late, Too Late!" and "With Many a Curve", as well as "Home They Brought Her Warrior Dead". "The Owl and the Pussycat", to words by Edward Lear, stands apart.
The site has two of her works for voice and piano, both at the Intermediate+ level: "Far Away" and "Good night, good night beloved". Either is a way to begin getting to know Lindsay.