Christiane Sengstack

Christiane Sengstack , also Sengstacke , b. Christiane Eleonore Christel Grund (born August 24, 1783 in Dresden , † May 27, 1867 in Bremen ) was a German pianist and singer.

biography

Christiane Grund was the daughter of the Hamburg music teacher Georg Friedrich Grund , who came from Saxony, and was born by Christiane Eleonore Rund. Steinert. She had nine siblings, including the composer, conductor and music teacher Friedrich Wilhelm Grund (1791–1874), the concertmaster Eduard Grund (1802–1871) and the pianist and singer Henriette Grund.

Her father trained her on the piano. At the age of eight she played for the first time in public at the Hamburger Schauspielhaus . Due to the daughter's success, the father quickly rose to become a sought-after piano teacher. In 1792 the Hamburg correspondent reported on the young pianist's "rapid progress". This was followed by other appearances alone or with her brother Fritz in the Schauspielhaus, in the Komödienhaus and in the Harmonie der Gesellschaft Harmonie . She also learned, among other things, “to speak and write four languages ​​correctly”, Louis Spohr reported in his memoirs of her high level of education.

In 1795 she appeared for the first time as a singer and then less and less as a pianist. At the age of 14 she also gave piano lessons. The Allgemeine musical Zeitung reported in 1807: “Among the amateurs, two women stand out on the pianoforte , who have played concerts several times; namely: Mad. Sengstacke [Christiane Grund, m. Sengstack] and Dem. Müller . Both play with ease, confidence and expression ... They both seem to be particularly attached to Mozart's and Beethoven's most wonderful things. "

In 1802 she married the Bremen manufacturer Georg Friedrich Sengstack (1777–1861), who ran a soap factory in Neustadt . The family lived in Bremen-Mitte, Am Brill . From around 1830 onwards, the family was able to earn a considerable fortune due to the economic upswing. The couple had 16 children.

From 1816 Sengstack worked on the board of the Sing-Akademie in Bremen, which was newly founded in 1815 by cathedral organist Wilhelm Friedrich Riem , cathedral cantor Wilhelm Christian Müller and his daughter, pianist Elise Müller . In 1820 the sister of Carl Maria von Weber was hired by the Singakademie when the composer was in Bremen with her. In the house of the Sengstack family, private concerts were often held and she appeared as a pianist who played works by Beethoven , among other things . After that, she rarely appeared in public as a singer. She sang in October 1822 at a concert by her brother Eduard Grund in Bremen. Daniel Julius Klugkist, organizer at the Singakademie and son of Mayor Hieronymus Klugkist, regretted the musical reluctance of Sengstack with the words: “You are spoiled in Bremen by Ms. Christiane Sengstack, of whom it is said that 'her soulful wing play seemed incomparable. ... Through song and play it has been the unsurpassable pattern in which soul, skill and grace unite to form the most beautiful whole. "

Literature, sources

• Edith Laudowicz : Sengstack (Sengstacke), Christiane Eleonore Christel, b. Reason . In: Women's history (s) , Bremer Frauenmuseum (ed.). Edition Falkenberg, Bremen 2016, ISBN 978-3-95494-095-0 .
• Andreas Schulz: Guardianship and Protection: Elites and Citizens in Bremen 1750-1880 , Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 2002.
• Sophie Drinker Institute: European instrumentalists of the 18th and 19th centuries : Grund, Christiane (Eleonore), Christel, m. Sengstack, Sengstacke .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hamburg Correspondent of February 29, 1792.
2. ↑ Volker Timmermann: Family happiness - the best on earth. The reports of the wife Christiane of the Bremen merchant Georg Friedrich Sengstack from the years 1820 to 1861. Ed. Von Althée Meinken. Bucharest 1997.