Clara M. Brinkerhoff | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Clara Maria Rolph 8 September 1828 London, England |
| Pen name | Henri Gordon |
| Occupation | Singer, romance novelist |
| Language | English |
| Genre | opera |
| Spouse |
Charles E. L. Brinkerhoff
(m. 1848) |
Clara Maria Brinkerhoff (pseudonym, Henri Gordon; 8 September 1828 - ) was an English-born American singer and musical educator. She sang in public while still a child, her voice and culture attracting the attention of the highest and most critical circles. Her father, Mr. Rolph, would not consent to her going on stage as a professional singer, so only the occasional concert employed her voice when she was still young.[1]
At the age of 17, she married Charles E. L. Brinkerhoff, of New York, and for three or four years after the marriage, in consideration of the wishes of her husband's family, she did not appear in concert. It was through the insistence of her manager, Theodore Eisfeld, that Brinkerhoff appeared again before the public, singing in concert and oratorio. Critics spoke of her voice as possessing phenomenal qualities and extraordinary power. Its unusual range and richness enabled her to cover a very wide scope of subject and author. While in oratorio she was superb, in opera, she was at home.[1] With George Cumming, Brinkerhoff co-invented and patented an award-winning telegraph key.
- ^ a b Wells 1877, p. 430.