Elisabeth von Herzogenberg

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Elisabeth and Heinrich von Herzogenberg

Elisabeth von Herzogenberg , née von Stockhausen , (born April 13, 1847 in Paris , † January 7, 1892 in Sanremo ) was a German pianist , composer , singer and patron .

Life

Elisabeth von Stockhausen was born in Paris as the third child of the Hanoverian diplomat Bodo Albrecht von Stockhausen (1810–1885) and Countess Clotilde von Baudissin (1818–1891). Bodo Albrecht von Stockhausen had taken piano lessons from Frédéric Chopin in Paris . When Elisabeth was five years old, the family moved to Vienna. There she received piano lessons from Theodor Dirzka, organist of the evangelical community. Later she taught the pianist Julius Epstein in piano playing and harmony, she also received singing lessons. Her vocal range was three octaves, her voice is described as extraordinarily clear.

Stockhausen's piano playing was praised for expression, touch, technique and empathy and inspired Paul Heyse , Clara Schumann , Adolf von Hildebrand and Johannes Brahms , among others . The latter accepted her as a student in 1863, but after a short time referred her back to Julius Epstein. There are different speculations about the possible reasons - consideration for Epstein or withdrawal in the face of a budding love affair. Nevertheless, Elisabeth later became a close confidante of Brahms, who sent him detailed reviews of his works in the course of written advice. The composer dedicated the two Rhapsodies op. 79 to her in 1880 and discarded pieces that she disliked. The correspondence between Brahms and the Herzogenberg couple, published in two volumes by Max Kalbeck, is an important source for Brahms research.

She married Heinrich von Herzogenberg in Dresden on November 26, 1868 and moved with him to Graz , four years later to Leipzig and finally to Berlin . The artist, although always integrated into the musical scene with her husband, performed mainly in private circles and worked as a musical advisor and promoter of artists. She supported her husband in running the Leipzig Bach Association , which he founded in 1875 together with Philipp Spitta and others. Occasionally she took part in concerts of the association as a pianist. In 1878 she met the music student Ethel Smyth , with whom she became close friends and encouraged her intensively.

Their marriage was childless. Her husband fell ill from 1887 to 1889, and soon afterwards her own heart condition worsened. During this time until her death, the couple traveled through various European health resorts. In January 1892, Elisabeth von Herzogenberg, not yet 45 years old, succumbed to her heart condition in Sanremo , which she and her husband had visited in November 1891 because of the warmer climate. Her husband's string quintet op. 77, written immediately afterwards, varies in its slow movement a song composed by Elisabeth based on a text by Friedrich Rückert: “You are gone before I thought”. The cantata “ Todtenfeier ” op. 80 for soloists, choir and orchestra was written under the impression of her death .

A few compositions by Elisabeth von Herzogenberg have survived, but most of them have been lost unpublished. In 1889, Rieter-Biedermann in Leipzig published “24 folk children's songs for a voice with accompaniment of the pianoforte” (lyricist and date of composition unknown). After her death, her husband published “Eight Clavier Pieces” from her pen (also by Rieter-Biedermann), which he dedicated individually to friends of the deceased. A recording of the “Eight Clavier Pieces” by Nataša Veljković was released in 2014 as part of a complete recording of Heinrich v. Herzogenberg at the label cpo . In 2019 the Andante from the “Clavierstücke” was performed in a concert at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna as part of Europride , which was dedicated to the composer Ethel Smyth and her “queer contemporaries”.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Antje Ruhbaum: Elizabeth of Herzogenberg: Salon - patronage - music promotion . In: Contributions to the cultural and social history of music 7 . Centaurus-Verlag, Kenzingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-8255-0681-0 , p. 29 f ., urn : nbn: de: 0168-ssoar-309311 .
  2. ↑ Max Kalbeck (ed.): Johannes Brahms in correspondence with Heinrich and Elisabet von Herzogenberg . 2nd Edition. tape 1 . Publishing house of the German Brahms Society, Berlin 1908 ( archive.org ).
  3. ↑ Max Kalbeck (ed.): Johannes Brahms in correspondence with Heinrich and Elisabet von Herzogenberg . 2nd Edition. tape 2 . Publishing house of the German Brahms Society, Berlin 1908 ( archive.org ).
  4. ↑ EuroPride 2019 Concert | Office for Equality, Gender Studies and Diversity (GGD). Accessed January 1, 2020 .

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Herzogenberg, Elisabeth von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stockhausen, Elisabeth von (maiden name); Herzogenberg, Elisabeth von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German music sponsor, composer, pianist and singer
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1847
PLACE OF BIRTH Paris
DATE OF DEATH January 7, 1892
Place of death Sanremo