Madame Medora Henson, in later life known as Mrs Waddington Cooke (1861-1928) was an American-English soprano singer.'Mme. Medora Henson', ''

The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 16 April 1928.'Mme Medora Hanson',

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 16 April 1928, p. 21.

Life

Medora Henson was born in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, the daughter of an American clergyman and a Welshwoman. She started her musical career as a pianist.

George Henschel Sir Isidor George Henschel (18 February 185010 September 1934) was a German-born British baritone, pianist, conductor, composer and academic teacher. First trained as a pianist, he was a concert singer who sometimes sang to his own accompanime ...

heard her sing while he conducted a musical society performance in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

which she was accompanying, and advised her to train her voice.The Musical Festival
''Evening Express'', 17 September 1895. Henson studied singing with Henschel and

George Sweet George Sweet (c. 1844 – 1920) was an English-born Australian geologist, president of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1905. Sweet investigated fossils in the Mansfield district for Frederick McCoy 1888–95, and was second-in-command to Sir ...

in the United States, and continued lessons with

Alberto Randegger Alberto Randegger (13 April 1832 – 18 December 1911) was an Italian-born composer, conductor and singing teacher, best known for promoting opera and new works of British music in England during the Victorian era and for his widely used textbook ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, as well as in Italy, Germany and France. Returning to America, she became a leading oratorio singer. In 1891 Henson moved to England, and her voice impressed

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

. She occasionally sang the part of Lady Rowena in Sullivan's opera ''

Ivanhoe ''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...

'', alternating with Lucille Hill and Esther Palliser.Theatre programme: "Ivanhoe", Royal English Opera, undated, naming Henson as Rowena. She subsequently left the stage, and concentrated on oratorio. In 1893 she married the pianist Waddington Cooke (1868-1940). Medora Henson sang oratorio for the

Royal Choral Society The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London. History Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir' ...

and the Bach Festival. She created the soprano part in

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

's ''Caractacus'', singing it at the

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

and

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

Festivals. In 1898 she toured with

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

, singing his songs. When she retired from public performances, she taught privately and at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

and the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

. In Christmas 1927 Henson had a serious fall in which she dislocated her left shoulder. She died on 14 April 1928 at her flat in Bedford Court Mansions in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henson, Medora 1861 births 1928 deaths Musicians from Virginia American operatic sopranos 20th-century British women opera singers British sopranos American emigrants to the United Kingdom