Emilie Augusta Kristina Hammarskjöld née Holmberg (May 6, 1821 – March 26, 1854) was a Swedish composer and musician. She was active as a concert singer, a pianist and a music instructor. She was a member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music ( sv, Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden. At the time of its foundation, only one of its co-founder was a professional musician, Ferdin ...

. She was likely the first woman artist from Sweden to have toured in the United States, prior to

Jenny Lind Johanna Maria "Jenny" Lind (6 October 18202 November 1887) was a Swedish opera singer, often called the "Swedish Nightingale". One of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century, she performed in soprano roles in opera in Sweden and a ...

. In Sweden, she is generally known only as Emilie Holmberg, as she left the country shortly after her marriage.

Life

Emilie Holmberg was born in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

to merchant Carl Christian Holmberg and Aurora Emelie Hellgren. Her parents divorced in 1823, and she was supported by her mother, a successful businesswoman who founded and managed her own library.

Education

Early on, her mother noted her interest in music, and ensured she was given a musical education. She was entrusted by her mother to the care of the composer

Eduard Brendler Eduard Brendler (4 November 1800 – 16 August 1831) was a Swedish composer. He was born in Dresden, Germany but his family moved to Sweden when he was only a year old. He died before completing his romantic opera '' Ryno, or the errant knight ...

and his wife Ulrica (Bouck) Brendler (1803–1841). She took music lessons from the composer and musical instructor Erik Drake (1788–1870), and singing lessons from the composer and organist Johan Peter Cronhamn (1803–1875).

Early career in Sweden

In 1836, at age fifteen, she published her first compositions. She wrote her own compositions, but also created music for songs written by other Swedish authors such as

Euphrosyne Euphrosyne (; grc, Εὐφροσύνη), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, was one of the Charites, known in ancient Rome as the ''Gratiae'' (Graces). She was sometimes called Euthymia (Εὐθυμία) or Eutychia (Εὐτυχία). Fa ...

, Böttiger, Dahlgren, Atterbom, Franzén, Mellin, and Runeberg. Several of her compositions had a noted success in her own lifetime. In 1838, she debuted as a singer and a pianist as well, and held public concerts in both capacities. In 1841, she founded her own music institute in Stockholm with the support of her mother, where she gave lessons in music. Her career in Sweden was successful. She was elected into the

on May 27, 1841. In 1843, she made a study trip to Paris in the company of the poet

Julia Nyberg Julia Kristina Nyberg (née Svärdström; 17 November 1784 – 16 April 1854), was a Swedish poet and songwriter. She published two collections of poetry and was awarded by the Swedish Academy. She wrote the vast majority of her works under t ...

Career in the United States

Upon her return to Sweden in 1844, she married Peder Hjalmar Hammarskjöld (1817–1861), estate-owner of the Skultuna mässingsbruk brass foundry. However, her new spouse was bankrupt, and after the wedding, they emigrated to the United States because of her husband's creditors. Emilie Hammarskjöld made a grand tour of America and became very successful. She organized and performed a concert at Armory Hall in Washington, D.C. in February 1845, where she performed as a singer and a concert pianist. The success she achieved both as a singer and a pianist made it possible for her to tour the great cities of North America during the following years. She was given a very good review during her performance as a pianist in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. She was made the offer of becoming an organist at the St Peter Cathedral in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

, which she accepted. While in Charleston, she also founded her own

philharmonic An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, ce ...

society in the city. However, she died soon after. Emilie Hammarskjöld was the mother of three daughters. She died during the birth of her fourth daughter in 1854 in Charleston.Holmberg, Emilie Augusta Kristina (Herman Hofberg, Frithiof Heurlin, Viktor Millqvist, Olof Rubenson, "Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon / I:509" 1906

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Compositions

Emilie Holmberg composed seven collected works of which five are preserved. They are made in a romantic style with inventive melodies and surprising turns. Her most known compositions were: * »Hök och Dufva» (written by Dahlgren, with music by Emilie Holmberg) * »Göken gal i lunden» (written by Dahlgren, with music by Emilie Holmberg) * »Ur stormarna ser jag en aflägsen hamn» (written by Böttiger, with music by Emilie Holmberg) * »Sof, oroliga hjärta, sof» (written by Runeberg, with music by Emilie Holmberg) * »Till skogs en liten fågel flög» (written by Atterbom, with music by Emilie Holmberg)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmberg, Emilie 1821 births 1854 deaths 19th-century American composers 19th-century American pianists 19th-century American women singers 19th-century American singers 19th-century American women pianists 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century Swedish women singers 19th-century Swedish women musicians 19th-century women composers American classical composers American classical pianists American Romantic composers American women classical composers American women classical pianists Deaths in childbirth Singers from Stockholm Swedish classical composers Swedish classical pianists Swedish emigrants to the United States Swedish women pianists