Virginia Gabriel

Mary Anne Virginia Gabriel (7 February 1825 – 7 August 1877) was an English singer and composer.

[1] She studied piano with Johann Peter Pixis, Theodor Dohler, Sigismond Thalberg and Bernhard Molique and composition with opera composer Saverio Mercadante.

[2] Gabriel wrote popular ballads which established her reputation as a songwriter and composer.

[3] Although her songwriting style was Romantic, her songs always reflected ability and inventiveness because of her strength as a serious composer.

[4] Gabriel married her librettist George March in 1874, who was employed by the Foreign Office.