Tristesse

Ethel Harraden was born in Islington, London, in 1857; she died in Leamington Spa in 1917. She is said to have begun composing music from the age of five. She went on to study piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London and then embarked on a successful career as a pianist and composer of songs, operettas and other stage works. Several of her operettas were performed on stage in London to great acclaim. Following her marriage in 1892 she moved to Leamington Spa, where she was kept increasingly busy with social obligations but nevertheless remained active as a performer and composer. This short piece Tristesse with the subtitle Romance sans Paroles is an expressive and lyrical salon piece. It was published in 1886 as plate no. 24181.