Elna Sherman


Daisy Elna Sherman was a composer, musicologist, and teacher with a special interest in Thomas Hardy.
Sherman was born in Massachusetts to Alice M. “Daisy” Fairchild and Sidney Algernon Sherman. Her mother Alice was a music teacher who also composed at least one song. Sherman earned two degrees at the Institute of Musical Art and also studied with Helen Hopekirk and in London.
Sherman taught at the Institute of Musical Art and Boston University College of Music. In 1936, Sherman was able to interview Hardy’s second wife, Florence Dugdale, who told her that Hardy had always wanted to be a musician.
Sherman belonged to The American Composers Alliance of New York, the Musical Association in London, and the Society of Women Musicians. Her works were published by Associated Music Publishers, Oxford University Press, and E. C. Schirmer. Her publications include:

Articles

  • Music in Thomas Hardy’s Life and Work
  • Ravenscroft’s Psalter, 1621; and Its Place in the Early New England Scene
  • ''Thomas Hardy: Lyricist, Symphonist''

    Chamber music

  • For an Oriental Bazaar
  • Sonata Lyrica
  • St. Francis and the Birds
  • Ten Anglo-American Folksongs and Ballads
  • Three Dance Movements
  • ''Wessex Tune Book vol 1 & 2''

    Piano

  • ''Country Wedding''

    Voice

  • “Evening Song, opus 36”
  • “Yuletide in a Younger World”