Princess Marie Elisabeth of Saxe-Meiningen was the only daughter of Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen, and she was notable as a musician and composer. She is best known in the clarinet community for her one-movement work, Romanze in F major, for clarinet and piano.
Princess Marie Elisabeth von Sachsen-Meiningen (1853 – 1923)
Princess Marie Elisabeth was born on 23 September 1853 in Potsdam. She was the third child and only daughter of Georg, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Meiningen, by his first wife, Princess Charlotte of Prussia1, and had only one surviving brother, Hereditary Prince Bernhard.
Marie Elisabeth’s father participated in the Franco-Prussian War, where he fought in nearly every battle.[2] After the war, Georg II devoted himself to the stage, and his court became famous for its brilliance and culture.2
As her father was a great patron of the stage and the founder of a national theater,[2] Marie Elisabeth was raised in this environment, consequently becoming artistic and a great lover of music like her parents. She received a thorough education under the tutelage of Theodor Kirchner, a talented pianist. Her father was a great patron of German composer and pianist Johannes Brahms, who worked as a music teacher in Meiningen for various pupils, including Marie Elisabeth, to whom he gave piano lessons.3 Marie Elisabeth was in close contact with other famous musicians, such as Richard Strauss, Franz Mannstädt, and Hans von Bülow.
Among her cherished works is a beautiful Romanze in F Major for clarinet and piano, composed for none other than Richard Mühlfeld4, for whom Johannes Brahms also wrote his own clarinet works.
Read her full biography on wikipedia.org
Works
Romanza in F Major | 1892
Clarinet and Piano
Purchase score and part
Stay Informed! Sign up to receive word when we add new composers or works to our catalogue.
References
- Martin, Frederick (1912). The Statesman’s Year Book, Volume 49. London: Macmillan and Co. p. 922.
- Ibid. “Duke George II. Dies In Meiningen”, The New York Times, Berlin, 26 June 1914
- Goltz, Maren (2008). “Musiker Lexikon des Herzogtums Sachsen-Meiningen (1680-1918)” (PDF) (1–334). Retrieved 16 September 2010.
- https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/romanze-sheet-music/19638536
Notes
About us
We are dedicated to the preservation and performance of music by women.
Clarinet Music By Women 