Henry Handel Richardson's songs were largely unknown after her death and were only partially donated to the National Library of Australia in 1973, with the full collection later edited by musicologists Bruce Steele and Richard Divall.
Composer Biography
Henry Handel Richardson studied piano and harmony at the Royal Conservatorium of Music in Leipzig, where she crossed paths with prominent musicians like Clara Schumann, Joseph Joachim, and Eugène Ysaÿe.
Compositional Technique
Henry Handel Richardson's songs are rooted in Romanticism, with highly idiomatic piano accompaniments that reflect her pianistic prowess and sensitivity to language.
Composition History
This album presents 32 of Henry Handel Richardson's 57 art-songs, which are the first recordings and the first commercially available collection of any of her music.
Composer Biography
Henry Handel Richardson, one of Australia's most important literary figures, was born Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson and wrote under a male pseudonym to overcome challenges faced by women in the Victorian era.
Composition History
Only one of Henry Handel Richardson's songs, Christkindleins Wiegenlied (1931), was published during her lifetime, though she insisted her manuscripts be preserved for posterity.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Henry Handel Richardson's literary career was bookended with novels about music, reflecting her passion for combining music and the written word.
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