This volume contains thirty art songs by Francis Ridley Havergal. This is F.R.H.'s complete extant output. There is one duet in the collection. Aside from this one song, each of the other songs has a vocal and piano part. These songs range in difficulty from easy gospel style to the level of a Schumann song. All of these songs would be acceptable for church services. Virtuosity is not required of the piano accompanist.
Frances Ridley Havergal, the daughter of a Church of England minister, is well known for her great hymns of consecration including the famous Take My Life and Let It Be. She also wrote hymn melodies, religious tracts, and works for children.
In 1852/3 she studied in the Louisenschule, Dusseldorf, and at Oberkassel. Otherwise she led a quiet life, not enjoying consistent good health; she travelled, in particular to Switzerland. She supported the Church Missionary Society.
She died of peritonitis at Caswell Bay on the Gower Peninsula in Wales. Her sisters saw much of her work published posthumously. Havergal College, a private girls' school in Toronto, is named after her. The composer Havergal Brian adopted the name as a tribute to the Havergal family.
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