Elizabeth Philp Explained

Elizabeth Philp (1827 – 26 November 1885) was an English singer, music educator and composer.

Philp was born in Falmouth, Cornwall, the eldest daughter of geographer James Philp. She was a protegee of Charlotte Cushman,^[1] and studied harmony with German composer Ferdinand Hiller at Cologne.^[2] She published a collection How to Sing an English Ballad^[3] including sixty songs.^[4] In London she was a neighbor and friend of Catherine Hogarth, and part of a community of musicians and writers there.^[5]

Philp died in London^[6] in 1885, aged 58 years, from liver disease.

Works

Philp composed songs and song cycles. Selected works include:

• Alone (Text: James Russell Lowell)
• Good night, beloved (Text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
• Inclusion (Text: Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
• Insufficiency (Text: Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
• O moonlight deep and tender (in Six Songs) (Text: James Russell Lowell)
• Serenade (in Six Songs) (Text: James Russell Lowell)
• Sweetest eyes (Text: Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
• Tell me, the summer stars (Text: Edwin Arnold)
• The sea hath its pearls (Text: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow after Heinrich Heine)
• The violets of spring (Text: Elizabeth Philp after Heinrich Heine)
• When all the world is young (Text: Charles Kingsley)

Notes and References

1. E. H. T. "The Late Elizabeth Philp" The Musical Standard (Reeves & Turner 1885): p.351.
2. https://books.google.com/books?id=qdZIAQAAMAAJ&dq=Elizabeth+Philp&pg=PA836 "Music and Musicians in England"
3. Elizabeth Philp, How to Sing an English Ballad (Tinsley Bros. 1869).
4. Web site: Composers Biography. 28 November 2010.
5. Lilian Nayder, The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth (Cornell University Press 2012): p.301.
6. Book: The Norton/Grove dictionary of women composers. Julie Anne. Sadie. Rhian. Samuel. 1994. W. W. Norton & Company . 9780393034875. 28 November 2010.