A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Paradies, Maria Theresa
PARADIES, MARIA THERESA,
Born at Vienna, 1753, was as remarkable for her life as for her distinguished musical talent. At the early age of four years and eight months, she was, by a rheumatic apoplexy, totally deprived of her sight. When seven years old, she was taught to play on the piano and to sing; and three years after, she sang the Stabat Mater of Pergolesi, in the church of St. Augustin, in Vienna, accompanying herself on the organ. The empress, Maria Theresa, who was present at the performance, gave her immediately an annuity of two hundred florins. Soon the young musician advanced so far, as to play sixty concertas with the greatest accuracy. In the year 1784 she set out on a musical journey, and wherever she appeared, but especially in London, (1785,) she excited, by her tare endowments, as well as by her misfortune, admiration and interest. She often moved her audience to tears by a cantate, the words of which were written by the blind poet Pfeffel, in which her own fate was depicted. Her memory was astonishing; she dictated all her compositions note by note. She was also well versed in other sciences, as geography and arithmetic. In company, she was cheerful, entertaining, witty, and highly interesting. During the latter part of her life she presided over an excellent musical institution in Vienna.