Eloisa D'Herbil was a Spanish pianist and composer. A child prodigy on the piano, by age seven, she had played before the heads of state in England and Spain. As a child, the press dubbed her "Chopin in skirts" and from a young age, she began composing musical pieces. Immigrating to Argentina in 1868, she continued to write music, becoming one of the first women to write tangos.
Early life
Eloísa María Dolores Juana de la Santísima Trinidad D'Herbil was born on 27 December 1847 in Cádiz, Spain to the Raquel Angel de Cadia and Joseph D'Herbil. She began her training before her fifth birthday with the American pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk and auditioned with the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt. She would remain a devotée of both and often played their music in concert. Liszt praised her ability to play Chopin, causing Viennese critics to dub the child prodigy as "Chopin in skirts". By the age of six, she had played for Isabella II of Spain. The following year, she played for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Windsor Castle and in June of the same year, gave another concert in England in the Queen's Concert Rooms. Her performance was highly praised by the royals. It was noted that her portrait could be widely seen and that Luigi Fontana was sculpting a bust of the young virtuoso. In 1855, the Spanish poet Manuel José Quintana wrote a poem praising her talent, which was his last lyric before his death. Between 1855 and 1858, D'Herbil played an annual circuit in London, sponsored by patrons such as the Duchess of Sutherland, performing at various town halls and Buckingham Palace. She would play again for Queen Isabella in 1857, 1860 and 1862 and received a set of jeweled earrings, as well as a magnificent medallion for various performances. At times, she also performed with her brother Antonio or Arturo giving concerts with piano, harmonium, and violin. By 1865, D’Herbil was publishing her own compositions, which showed exceptional talent. In 1867, she was hired to play during the Carnival celebrations in Toledo at the Taller del Moro, which had been reopened a few months before as the "Elíseo Garden".
Argentine career
Within a year, possibly due to the violence preceding the Glorious Revolution of 1868, D'Herbil moved to Argentina and continued her career. She organized a charity concert for February 1868 at the Teatro Colón to benefit cholera victims. By 1872, she styled her performances and published music such as La caridad es dios as Eloísa d 'Herbil de Romany, though her husband's name was Guillermo Román. D'Herbil de Romany performed in Teatro Victoria in Buenos Aires in July of that year playing a concerto by Gottschalk. By October, she was performing at the Teatro Solis in Montevideo with the Italian Lyrical Company. Two months later, on 4 December 1872 in Montevideo, she had her first child, Federico Román. By 1 May 1873, the family were back in Buenos Aires. In succession, D'Herbil de Romany had two more children Maria Raquel born on the 31 October 1874 and José Camilo, born on 16 February 1876. Federico Silva served as godfather for all of her children. D'Herbil began using the name Eloisa D. de Silva, sometime after the birth of her third child. Her last child, Maria Eloisa Silva was born on 6 April 1881 to she and Federico Silva. De Silva's first compositions were written for song or piano with verses written by other artists. These include such works as Rayo de luna with lyrics by Carlos Guido Spano and Los barqueros with began composing pieces for singing, reciting and piano, such as "Moonbeam", with verses by Carlos Guido Spano, "Los barqueros", with words by Becker. Between 1872 and 1885 she composed El Maco, Y a mí qué, Che no calotiés!, and Por la calle Arenales, some of the first tangos to be written by a woman. Like other women tango writers, she sometimes wrote under a pseudonym to protect her reputation. El Maco was published in 1904 under the name of Miguel J. Tornquist. She wrote approximately 100 tangos, many after 1900, including Calote, El mozo rubio, Evangélica, La multa, Que sí que no, Yo soy la rubia, among others. Between 1913 and 1914, the Boletín Oficial de la República Argentina listed numerous composition titles including, A mi bandera, Becquerianas, Brumas, Crisantema, En el baile, Ilusorias, La Canción del ombú, La Caridad es Dios, Las Palomas, Rosas de otoño, and ¡Ultimo Adiós!. In 1934, she composed the Himno del Congreso Eucarístico and dedicated to Cardinal Pacelli, who would later be Pope Pius XII.
Death and legacy
De Silva died on 22 June 1943 at her home in Buenos Aires. In 2006, Silvia Miguens published a novel, La baronesa del tango based on the life of the composer.
