Maria Hester Park

Maria Hester Park was a British pianist, harpsichordist, teacher and composer. Not much is known about her life, though she was one of the most prolific of 18th century women composers. Before her marriage, Maria Hester Park gave four well-received performances, mostly in the Oxford area, on both the piano and the harpsichord. Her first public appearance was at the age of twenty-two as Maria Hester Reynolds in the Hanover Square concert series with a concerto on the harpsichord. After her marriage in London in April of 1787 to Thomas Park, an engraver turned antiquarian and man of letters, she ended her career as a performer, although she earned even more fame as composer and teacher. Her marriage appears to have been happy; several of her husband’s love poems to her still exist. She corresponded with Joseph Haydn, who, on October 22, 1794, sent her a sonata of his composition (Hob. XVI:51) and a thank you letter in exchange for two of her pieces. She died in Hampstead, London at the age of 53, after many years of ill health, and left four daughters. Among her extant works are a charming Piano Concerto and several sonatas, for piano, and for violin and piano. Her works are varied, competent, and professionally arranged and her surviving music spans a quarter of a century.