1759–1824 · Austria · Classical
Maria Theresia Paradis (1759–1824) was an Austrian pianist, singer and composer who lost her sight in early childhood. In 1783–1786 she toured Europe as a performer, and from 1808 she ran her own music school in Vienna. On the site her works are represented by songs for voice and piano of intermediate to advanced difficulty.
Maria Theresia Paradis was born on 15 May 1759 in Vienna. Her father, Joseph Anton Paradis, worked as an official at the Viennese court; her mother was named Maria Rosalia. Other children grew up in the family besides her, including twin sisters Josepha and Elisabeth. Maria Theresia lost her sight in early childhood.
At the age of seven she sang the soprano part in Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater", accompanying herself on the organ. Her singing moved the empress who was listening to the concert so much that she ordered a pension to be paid to the girl, allowing Maria Theresia to continue studying music; this pension was later discontinued by Emperor Joseph II. Leopold Koželuch taught her piano; her teachers also included Antonio Salieri, Vincenzo Righini and Georg Joseph Vogler. She was also acquainted with other leading musicians of her time, including Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Gluck. It is also known that she played the organ at the Augustinerkirche in Vienna.
In 1773 she was invited to perform an organ concerto written by Antonio Salieri. From late 1776 until the middle of 1777, Maria Theresia was treated by the famous physician Franz Anton Mesmer. The score of this concerto survives, though without its second movement.
From 1775, Maria Theresia performed regularly in Viennese salons and concerts, appearing both as a pianist and as a composer. Between 1783 and 1786 she toured Europe: she was accompanied by her mother, Maria Rosalia, the musician Sigmund Falgara, and the librettist Johann Riedinger. She performed at some of Europe's most important residences — Paris, London, Brussels and other cities. Among her listeners were the French royal couple, Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, as well as King George III of England and his consort Charlotte. Among other works, at these concerts she repeatedly performed Piano Concerto No. 18 in B-flat major, which Mozart wrote and dedicated to her.
In Paris her performances caused such a stir that the authorities decided to open a special institution for the blind — it began operating in 1785; Maria Theresia collected money earned from her concerts for this purpose. Along the way she also visited other cities; one of them was Hamburg, where she came to know the composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Her performances also influenced Johann Wilhelm Klein, one of those who later opened the first institutions for the blind. In Paris she gave fourteen concerts, which received high praise from critics.
During her tour she also performed a piano concerto by Joseph Haydn; its manuscript has not survived. Besides Paris and London, she visited Frankfurt, other German cities and Switzerland, and on her way back, Berlin and Prague. Plans for concerts in Italy and Russia never came to fruition. The route of her journey is also documented in an album she carried with her, in which the people she met would write.
From 1789, Maria Theresia devoted more time to composing than to performing: by 1797 she had written five operas and three cantatas. Her works include trios, concertos and sonatas for piano, as well as pieces for the stage. She also wrote a melodrama and works of chamber music.
The earliest of Maria Theresia's surviving major works is a cycle of twelve songs set to music during her European tour, in 1784–1786. Her Singspiele and operas, written in the 1790s, were staged at Vienna's «Theater am Kärntnertor» and were well received by the public. But in 1797 the Prague production of her opera "Rinaldo und Alcina" was not successful; after that, Maria Theresia began devoting more time to teaching.
The printing costs of her cycle of twelve songs were covered by her patron Luise Eleonore von Sachsen-Meiningen. Another patron was Sophie von La Roche, with whom Maria Theresia corresponded.
In 1808 Maria Theresia founded her own music school in Vienna and taught there until her death in 1824. Her pupils were girls and young women, both blind and sighted, whom she taught singing, piano playing and music theory.
Several times a year Maria Theresia held concerts and balls in her home, which Viennese newspapers reported on. Their concert programmes have survived.
For correspondence she used a printing device invented by Wolfgang von Kempelen. Her school also became a model for other such institutions, among them that of the blind pianist and composer Josef Proksch.
Maria Theresia's life inspired several novels, among them "Mesmerized" (by Alissa Walser) and "The Pianist in the Dark" (by Michèle Halberstadt). She has also been written about by Julian Barnes in the short story "Harmony" and by Brian O'Doherty in the novel "The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P."
The scores presented on the site are Maria Theresia Paradis's songs for voice and piano — the combination she wrote in throughout her life as a pianist and singer. Stylistically her songs are close to the operatic manner: they feature coloratura and trills, and the influence of her singing teacher Antonio Salieri is noticeable in the dramatically composed scenes. The piano part also owes much to another of her teachers, Leopold Koželuch, whose influence on her piano works was noticeable.
Of the twelve editions on the site, two are at intermediate level, eight at upper intermediate, and two at advanced level; all of them are written for voice and piano. It is worth starting with simpler pieces, such as "Die Tanne" or "Wenn ich der Kaiser wäre", and gradually moving on to more complex ones, such as "Vaterlandslied". "Sophia an Siegwart", "Aus dem Siegwart (Wohl und immer wohl dem Mann)" and "Das Gärtnerliedchen aus dem Siegwart" also belong to the upper intermediate level.
Among the songs at upper intermediate level are "An das Klavier", "Der Auferstehungsmorgen", "Erinnerung ans Schicksal", "Morgenlied eines armen Mannes" and "An meine entfernte Lieben". Since all the pieces are written for voice and piano, the student needs a partner — a singer or teacher to take the vocal line while the student learns the piano accompaniment. In every song the vocal part is written for a single voice, with no duets or ensembles for several singers.
The difficulty of the editions increases gradually: from "Die Tanne" and "Wenn ich der Kaiser wäre" at intermediate level, through most of the songs at upper intermediate level, to "Vaterlandslied" and "Da eben seinen Lauf verbracht" at advanced level. This order is convenient for working through the programme step by step, from simple to complex. Since all twelve editions belong to the same genre, they are convenient for putting together a single-composer programme for a recital or an exam.