Mrs. Rhodes, known in the musical world as Guy d'Hardelot, was of French ancestry and birth. She spent her childhood in a Norman castle, and her youth in Paris and London, studying music. After marriage she met with reverses, and was forced to earn a living by teaching. She studied composition with Clarence Lucas, and gives him great credit for developing individuality. She has three excellent guiding maxims,—"Avoid familiar things, choose words so clear that people can see the picture, and be sure that the climax comes at the end."
Her songs succeed in combining the elegance and lightness of the French school with the appealing simplicity of the English. Her reputation was established with her first publication, the melancholy and dramatic "Sans Toi." Her many succeeding lyrics range from liveliest humour to deepest pathos, and all are thoroughly artistic. Widely known are "Sans Toi," "Mignon," "Vos Yeux," "Say Yes," "Chanson de Ma Vie," "La Fermière," "Valse des Libellules," and many others. Her favourite poets are Victor Hugo and Ella Wheeler Wilcox, a rather strange mixture. Her only attempt in larger form is the operetta "Elle et Lui." She is a great friend of Mme. Calvé, who is especially fond of her songs. She has accompanied Calvé on an American tour, and has appeared with her before Queen Victoria at Windsor. She sings herself with a light but attractive voice and the most perfect diction. Of late she has composed for Calvé some acting songs, such as "The Fan."
Maude Valerie White takes rank among the very best of England's song writers. Born at Dieppe in 1855, she entered the Royal Academy at the usual age, completing her studies at Vienna. During her student days she produced a mass, and at various times she has composed violin and 'cello pieces, but she has won most fame, as well as much money, by her songs. Grove considers the best of these to be the settings of Herrick and Shelley; he gives high praise to her setting of the latter's "My soul is an enchanted boat," and considers it one of the finest songs in our language. Her other lyrics include such gems as "To Mary," "Ophelia's Song," "Ave Maria," and so forth, besides a number of exquisite German and French songs. Her careful attention to the metre and accents of the words, combined with the excellence of the poetry she chooses and the real worth of her music, have won the admiration of all music lovers.
Florence Gilbert, a sister of the well-known dramatist, has won some renown as a ballad composer. She studied harmony and composition with Stainer and Prout, and after this excellent training spent much time in creative work. For a long time she let her songs remain in manuscript, out of diffidence as to their value. Finally Mme. Helen Trust, the singer, came upon them, and obtained permission to bring out the "Message to Phyllis." Its success was pronounced, and the composer was easily persuaded to issue her other works.
One of the older group of song composers is Clara Angela Macironi, whose work has been known many years. Born in 1821, she studied in the Academy, and became one of its professors. Her suite for violin and piano is well written, but she is known to the general public chiefly by her part-songs. Some of these have been sung by three thousand voices at the Crystal Palace. She has published many songs for solo voice also, but these are hardly equal in musical worth to the productions of the more recent geniuses.
Less high in standard, but vastly popular, are the songs of Hope Temple, of whose works "My Lady's Bower" and "In Sweet September" are probably familiar in many households. Edith Cooke has found a vein of dainty playfulness in "Two Marionettes" and other similar songs. The productions of Kate Lucy Ward are graceful and musicianly, while Katharine Ramsay has written some admirable children's songs. Without enumerating more, it may be worth mentioning that the famous Patti has tried her hand at composing songs, and that Lady Tennyson has set some of her husband's lyrics, although he is said to have been tone-deaf and unable to appreciate any music.
The Irish songs of Alicia Adelaide Needham are said to be exceptionally good, and thoroughly new and local in flavour. Ireland is also represented among women composers by Christina Morison, who produced a three-act opera, "The Uhlans," and wrote many songs; Lady Helen Selina Dufferin, whose songs are widely known, especially the "Lay of the Irish Emigrant;" and Lady Morgan, born in the eighteenth century at Dublin, and known through her operetta, "The First Attempt."
Scotland can show no great woman composer. There are a few ballad writers besides those already mentioned, but they are of little importance. Wales can boast one musical daughter in Llewela Davies, who won a large collection of prizes while at the Royal Academy. Her works include three sketches for orchestra, a string quartette, a number of songs, and a violin sonata that received a London performance in 1894, and was highly praised by the critics.[6]