Elisabeth Sophie of Mecklenburg, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (20 August 1613 – 12 July 1676) was a German poet, composer and

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

Life

She began studying music at the court of her father, Duke John Albert II of Mecklenburg-Güstrow, where was an orchestra known for its use of fine English musicians, such as William Brade. She moved to the court of

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...

, which also had a strong musical tradition, when the

Thirty Years War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...

threatened her court in 1628. In 1635, she married the learned

Augustus the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Augustus II (10 April 1579 – 17 September 1666), called the Younger (german: August der Jüngere), a member of the House of Welf was Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. In the estate division of the House of Welf of 1635, he received the Principa ...

See Walter, ''Sophie Elisabeth'' with whom she had two children: *

Ferdinand Albert I, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg Ferdinand is a Germanic name composed of the elements "protection", "peace" (PIE "to love, to make peace") or alternatively "journey, travel", Proto-Germanic , abstract noun from root "to fare, travel" (PIE , "to lead, pass over"), and "co ...

* Marie Elisabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Elisabeth Sophie was charged with organizing the court orchestra, and at times worked closely with

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque composer and organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as one of the most important composers of the 17th century. He ...

, who was appointed ''absentes''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

in 1655. She may have collaborated with him on arias in his ''Theatralische neue Vorstellung von der Maria Magdalena''. Most of Elisabeth Sophie 's compositions are hymns or devotional arias. Some of these were published in 1651 and 1667. The one printed in 1651, ''Vinetum evangelicum, Evangelischer Weinberg'', is believed to have been the first music published by a woman in Germany.See Tick, ''Western Classical'' She also played a major role in establishing large court entertainments, including masquerades, plays, and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

s, to which she at times wrote

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

s and music. Her additional involvement in these entertainments is unclear. Two of her dramatic works survive: ''Friedens Sieg'' (1642, Brunswick) and ''Glückwünschende Freudensdarstellung'' (

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

, 1652).

Sibylle Ursula von Braunschweig-Lüneburg Sibylle Ursula von Braunschweig-Lüneburg, also known as Sibylle von Braunschweig-Luneburg and Sibylle of Brunswick-Luneburg, (4 February 1629 – 12 December 1671), a member of the House of Welf, was a daughter of Duke Augustus II of Brunswick-L ...

was her stepdaughter.

Footnotes

References

* (similar text in Grove Opera article by same author) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elisabeth Sophie of Mecklenburg 1613 births 1676 deaths German Baroque composers Duchesses of Brunswick-Lüneburg German classical composers German women poets German women composers Pupils of Heinrich Schütz 17th-century classical composers Women classical composers 17th-century German women writers 17th-century German writers New House of Brunswick