Ellen Riley Wright was an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 composer of music for popular songs.

Biography

Ellen Riley was born in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, the daughter of American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 engineer George Riley and married an attorney. She began to compose with no instruction and published her first songs in 1981. Encouraged by her success, she studied harmony with Henry Gadsby and instrumentation with F.W. Davenport and expanded her career as a composer.

Works

Examples of her compositions include:

• "Lovesight" (Text: Dante Gabriel Rossetti)
• "Morgens send' ich dir die Veilchen" (Text: Heinrich Heine)
• "Violets" (Text: Julian Fane after Heinrich Heine)
• "She Walks in Beauty"
• "Queen of My Days"
• "Had I but Known"
• "Love's Entreaty"
• "The Dawn of Life," with orchestral accompaniment