Composer of the Week: Amanda Maier-Röntgen

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

Composer of the Week - Brand

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Amanda Maier-Röntgen (1853-1894): Four hands better than two

Four hands better than two

Amanda Maier-Röntgen (1853-1894)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Amanda Maier-Röntgen (1853-1894), Four hands better than two

Donald Macleod introduces Maier’s happy life and world in the early 1880s.

Donald Macleod introduces Maier’s happy life in the early 1880s, a period when she married her beloved Julius and collaborated with him on several effervescent new works.

Donald Macleod introduces Maier’s happy life and world in the early 1880s, a period when she married her beloved Julius and collaborated with him on several effervescent new works.

Amanda Maier (1853-1894) was one of the 19th century’s most brilliant musicians, yet whose story was almost lost to history. Born in the small Swedish town of Landskrona, her virtuoso talent at the violin saw her rise to become one of Europe’s most in-demand performers: giving private and public concerts of major works by Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Bruch, as well as her own dazzling compositions. Maier was a friend of Grieg, Brahms, Clara Schumann and Ethel Smyth and her music was reviewed in newspapers across Europe. Tragically, ill health would see her pass away at the age of just 41 and her musical legacy slowly forgotten. All this week, Donald Macleod is joined by musicologist and violinist Jennifer Martyn to celebrate Amanda Maier's life and work - with performances of all her extant compositions alongside works by key figures in her life, including Edward Grieg, Carl Reinecke and Maier's husband, Julius Röntgen, with whom she enjoyed a close and loving relationship in music and in life.

The 1880s saw Amanda and Julius finally married - and settle in Amsterdam. As well as enjoying a harmonious domestic life, the pair collaborated on a series of exuberant and clever works for special occasions and made the acquaintance of several of Europe’s biggest musical names, including Edvard Grieg, Ethel Smyth and Clara Schumann.

Nacht-mittags Potpourri (St Nicholas-Schwank)
Bengt Forsberg, piano

St Nicholas-Schwank:
Romanze; Schwedisches Intermezzo; Allt under Himmelens fäste
Cecilia Zilliacus, violin
Kari Raitinen, cello
Bengt Forsberg, piano

String Quartet in A minor (2nd and 3rd mvts)
Cecilia Zilliacus, Julia-Maria Kretz, violins
Johanna Persson, viola
Kari Raitinen, cello

Grieg: Sarabande (Holberg Suite)
Australian Chamber Orchestra, conductor Richard Tognetti

Swedish Tunes and Dances
Gregory Maytan, violin
Ann-Sofi Klingberg, piano

Produced by Steven Rajam for BBC Audio Wales & West

Composer of the Week: Amanda Maier-Röntgen (1853-1894)

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the remarkable, tragic story of a gifted violinist and composer.

Donald Macleod explores the remarkable, tragic story of gifted violinist and composer Amanda Maier-Röntgen, in conversation with musicologist and violinist Jennifer Martyn.

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Amanda Maier-Röntgen (1853-1894)

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