, image = María Amalia of Saxony by López Portaña.jpg , caption = Maria Amalie in 1825, portrait by

Vicente López Portaña Vicente López Portaña, OIC (; September 19, 1772July 22, 1850) was a Spanish painter, considered one of the best portrait painters of his time. Early life Vicente López Portaña was born in Valencia on September 19, 1772. His parents wer ...

. , spouse = Franciscus de Merendonque ??? , issue = Johannes de Merendonque ??? , house = Wettin , father = Prince Maximilian of Saxony , mother =

Princess Carolina of Parma en, Caroline Mary Theresa Josepha of Bourbon-Parmagerman: Karoline Marie Theresia Josefa von Bourbon-Parmafrench: Caroline Marie Thérèse Josèphe de Bourbon-Parme , birth_date = , birth_place = Ducal Palace of Colorno, Parma , death_date ...

, birth_date = , birth_place =

Pillnitz Pillnitz is a quarter in the east of Dresden, Germany. It can be reached by bus, ship, walking along the river or by bicycle. Pillnitz is most famous for its Baroque palace and park, the Pillnitz Castle. Pillnitz Palace consists of the Riversi ...

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, death_date = , death_place =

, burial_place =

Katholische Hofkirche Dresden Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, Dresden, previously the Catholic Church of the Royal Court of Saxony, called in German Katholische Hofkirche and since 1980 also known as Kathedrale Sanctissimae Trinitatis, is the Catholi ...

, religion = Roman Catholicism Amalie Marie Friederike Auguste (10 August 1794 – 18 September 1870), Princess of Saxony, full name Maria Amalia Friederike Augusta Karolina Ludovica Josepha Aloysia Anna Nepomucena Philippina Vincentia Franziska de Paula Franziska de Chantal, was a German composer writing under the pen name ''A. Serena'', and a dramatist under the name ''Amalie Heiter''. She was the daughter of Prince Maximilian of Saxony and

Life

Princess Amalie was the eldest child of Prince Maximilian of Saxony and

. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Maria Amalia, Duchess of Parma. She was also the granddaughter of

Frederick Christian, Elector of Saxony Frederick Christian (german: Friedrich Christian; 5 September 1722 – 17 December 1763) was the Prince-Elector of Saxony for fewer than three months in 1763. He was a member of the House of Wettin. He was the third but eldest surviving son of ...

; niece of Frederick Augustus I, King of Saxony and Anthony, King of Saxony; sister of Frederick Augustus II, King of Saxony and

John, King of Saxony , image = Photograph of John, King of Saxony (1801-1873).jpg , reign =9 August 1854 – 29 October 1873 , caption = Photograph of King John, , predecessor = Frederick Augustus II , successor = Albert , succ ...

; and aunt of Albert, King of Saxony and

George, King of Saxony en, Frederick Augustus George Louis William Maximilian Charles Maria Nepomuk Baptist Xavier Cyriacus Romanus , image =George of Saxony by Nicola Perscheid c1900.jpg , caption = Photograph by Nicola Perscheid c. 1900 , reign ...

. She lived her entire life in

Pillnitz Castle Pillnitz Palace (german: Schloss Pillnitz) is a restored Baroque schloss at the eastern end of the city of Dresden in the German state of Saxony. It is located on the bank of the River Elbe in the former village of Pillnitz. It was the summer r ...

near

Dresden, Germany Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth la ...

. She was a well-educated and intellectually curious woman who composed chamber music, opera, and sacred music, sang, wrote comedies, and played the harpsichord. Married to Franciscus de Merendonque in 1817. Amalie was a young girl during the time of the

Napoleonic wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and had to flee from her castle several times. She and her family were forced to sleep on straw wherever they could find shelter. She met

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

several times and held a negative opinion of him. When Napoleon observed that she was angry with him because he warred against her family, but that she should and would accustom herself to the situation, she firmly replied that there were some things that can't be accustomed to.

Career

Music

Amalie studied music with

Joseph Schuster Joseph Schuster may refer to: * Joseph Schuster (cellist) (1903–1969), Constantinople-born American cellist * Joseph Schuster (composer) (1748–1812), German classical composer * Joe Shuster (1914–1992), Canadian-born comic book writer who cre ...

, Vincenzo Rastrelli, Johann Miksch, Franz Anton Schubert and

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18 or 19 November 17865 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and critic who was one of the first significant composers of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas, ...

. She began writing music in 1811 and composed numerous operas, popular among the Dresden elite. She published her musical works under the pseudonym A. Serena. Her most popular compositions were her comedic operas. She portrayed her characters with innovation and color. Weber found her "highly talented."

Dramatics

In 1829/30, she published two dramas under the name of Amalie Heiter. Among her subsequent dramatic works, which were noted for a love of humanity and virtue, her comedies ''Der Onkel'' (“The Uncle”) and ''Die Fürstenbraut'' (“The Prince's bride”) became very popular. The latter was performed in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

under the title ''Une femme charmante'' (“A charming woman,” 1840). Others of her plays were also adapted to the French stage. A complete edition of her dramatic works was published in Dresden, for the benefit of the women's association, under the title of ''Originalbeiträge zur deutschen Schaubühne'' (“Original contributions to the German stage,” 6 vols., 1837–42). A 3rd edition of the 1st volume appeared in 1858, and a French version of it (''Comédies'') at Paris in 1841. Six of her dramas were translated into English by

Anna Jameson Anna Brownell Jameson (17 May 179417 March 1860) was an Anglo-Irish art historian. Born in Ireland, she migrated to England at the age of four, becoming a well-known British writer and contributor to nineteenth-century thought on a range of su ...

(London, 1846), and six others were translated anonymously (1848).

Musical works

* ''Una donna'' (1816) * ''Le nozze funeste'' (1816) * ''Le tre cinture'' (1817) * ''Il prigioniere'' (1820) * ''L'americana'' (1820) * ''Elvira'' (1821) * ''Elisa ed Ernesto'' (1823) * ''La fedeltà alla prova'' (1826) * ''Vecchiezza e gioventù'' (1828) * ''Il figlio pentito'' (1831) * ''Il marchesino'' (1833) * ''Die Siegesfahne'' (operetta, 1834) * ''

La casa disabitata ''La casa disabitata'' (The Uninhabited House) is a comic opera in one act composed by Princess Amalie of Saxony to her own Italian-language libretto. It was first performed in the court theatre of Pillnitz Castle in Dresden on 17 September 1835. ...

'' (1835)Rieger, Eva, ed. ''The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers''. New York : W.W. Norton and Company, 1995: 12.

Ancestry

References

Bibliography

Modern works

* Slonimsky, Nicolas, ed. ''

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' is a major reference work in the field of music, originally compiled by Theodore Baker, PhD, and published in 1900 by G. Schirmer, Inc. The ninth edition, the most recent edition, was published in 2 ...

''. Vol. 1. New York: Schrimer Books, 2001: 67. * '' Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia''. Vol. 1. Woodbridge, CT: Yorkin, 1999: 254–255. * Rieger, Eva, ed. ''The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers''. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1995: 12.

Older sources

* * * This is an extract from another publication. {{DEFAULTSORT:Amalie Of Saxony, Princess 1794 births 1870 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century German composers 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German women writers Albertine branch Burials at Dresden Cathedral German classical composers German women classical composers German Roman Catholics German women dramatists and playwrights House of Wettin Musicians from Dresden Saxon princesses 19th-century women composers