Selina Mills

The forgotten female composer fêted by Mozart and Haydn

Maria Theresia von Paradis was the darling of the Viennese musical court, so why has she been forgotten?

The Blind Enchantress: Portrait of Maria Theresia von Paradis, 1784, by Faustine Parmantie. Credit: Akg-image

A few years ago, I was sitting in the London Library researching a book about blind people across the ages. As a semi-blind person myself, I sighed at the lack of women, other than the endlessly chipper Helen Keller, who never had a bad day. Ever.

My sister, however, drew my attention to a two-line wiki entry for the 18th-century composer, singer and professor — and darling of the Viennese musical court — Maria Theresia von Paradis (1759–1824).

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