Amanda Röntgen-Maier (20 February 1853 – 15 July 1894) was a Swedish violinist and composer. She was the first female graduate in music direction from the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

in 1872.

Biography

Amanda Maier was born into a musical home in

Landskrona Landskrona is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona to the island of Ven, an ...

and discovered her musical talent early. Her first instruction in violin and piano was from her father. At the age of sixteen, Maier began studying at the Royal College of Music in

, where she studied violin, organ, piano, cello, composition and harmony. Maier performed violin concerts in both Sweden and abroad. She continued to study composition with the conservatory teachers Reinecke and Richter in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and violin from

Engelbert Röntgen Engelbert Röntgen (30 September 1829 – 12 December 1897)Obituary
''

, concert master at

Gewandhaus Orchestra The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Gewandhausorchester; also previously known in German as the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig) is a German symphony orchestra based in Leipzig, Germany. The orchestra is named after the concert hall in which it is bas ...

in the same city. During this time she composed a violin sonata, a piano trio and a violin concerto for orchestra. Her violin concerto was premiered in 1875 with Maier as soloist and received good reviews. In Leipzig she met the German-Dutch pianist and composer

Julius Röntgen Julius Engelbert Röntgen (9 May 1855 – 13 September 1932) was a German-Dutch composer of classical music. He was a friend of Liszt, Brahms and Grieg. Early life and education Julius Röntgen was born in Leipzig, Germany, to a family of music ...

(1855–1932), her violin teacher's son. The couple married in 1880 in Landskrona and moved to

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. The marriage ended Amanda's public appearances, but she continued composing, and the couple arranged musical salons and music performances in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, with audience members including Nina and

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein (; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. He was the elder brother of Nikolai Rubinstein, who founded the Moscow Conservatory. As a pianist, Rubinstein ran ...

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian Violin, violinist, Conducting, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely ...

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; ; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic music, Romantic era, she exerted her influence o ...

and

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

. In the late 1870s Maier also met

Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended ...

, who was studying in Leipzig. They became friends and continued corresponding until Maier's death. In 1887 Röntgen-Maier became ill with tuberculosis. During her illness, the couple stayed in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Davos Davos (, ; or ; ; Old ) is an Alpine resort town and municipality in the Prättigau/Davos Region in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of (). Davos is located on the river Landwasser, in the Rhaetian ...

. Her final major composition was the piano quartet in E minor on a trip to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in 1891. She died in 1894 in

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The Swedish record label dB Productions has released two of three albums in a series of Amanda Maier's complete works. Excerpts can be found on Youtube.

Works

Selected works include:

Orchestral

* Violin Concerto in D minor (1875)

Quartets

* Piano Quartet in E minor (1891) * String Quartet in A major (1877 – completed by B. Tommy Andersson in 2018)

Sonatas

*''Sonata in B Minor for Violin and Piano'' (Publisher: Musikaliska Konstföreningen, Stockholm, 1878)

Ensemble

*''Six Pieces for Piano and Violin'' (Publisher:

Breitkopf & Hartel Breitkopf may refer to: * Bernhard Christoph Breitkopf, (1695-1777) founder of Breitkopf & Härtel * Johann Gottlob Immanuel Breitkopf, (1719-1794) son of Bernhard Cristoph Breitkopf * Michael Breitkopf, member of German band Die Toten Hosen * Breit ...

, Leipzig, 1879) *''Dialogues: Small Piano Pieces'' (with Julius Röntgen, Publisher: Breitkopf & Hartel, Leipzig, 1882)

Legacy

In 2018 a

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

was formed by members the

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. History The orchestra was foun ...

, and named the Maier Quartet. In June 2024,

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

featured Amanda Röntgen-Maier as 'Composer of the week'.

References

External links

* . *
Amanda Maier, Sonata in B Minor, I. Allegro – Gregory Maytan (violin), Nicole Lee (piano)

Amanda Maier, Sonata in B Minor, II. Andantino – Gregory Maytan (violin), Nicole Lee (piano)

Amanda Maier, Sonata in B Minor, III. Allegro molto vivace – Gregory Maytan (violin), Nicole Lee (piano)
* Amanda Maier, Six Pieces for Violin and Piano, Gregory Maytan (violin), Nicole Lee (piano
I. Allegro vivace II. Allegro con motoIII. Lento -IV. Allegro Molto V. Tranquillamente VI. Allegro, ma non troppo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rontgen-Maier, Amanda 1853 births 1894 deaths Swedish classical violinists 19th-century Swedish classical composers 19th-century classical violinists Women classical violinists People from Landskrona Musicians from Skåne County Royal College of Music, Stockholm, alumni Swedish women classical composers Swedish women violinists 19th-century Swedish women composers Concertmasters