Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt

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Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt (born February 28, 1755 in Regensburg , died December 20, 1810 in Prague ), Princess von Thurn und Taxis , was a German composer and pianist during Mozart's time. Due to her marriage in 1780 with the Danish diplomat and chamberlain Count Ferdinand von Ahlefeldt (1747–1815) and her stay in Denmark , she is considered the “first Danish female composer”.

Life

Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt grew up within her art-loving family at the court of the Princes of Thurn and Taxis in Regensburg. The historical music collection of the Regensburg court reflects a high quality repertoire . Nothing was known about her compositional and pianistic training. A later symphony by Ahlefeldt is at the same time attributed to the Bohemian composer Franz Xaver Pokorny (1729–1794) at RISM - see works - who was repeatedly engaged with the Regensburg court orchestra since 1766 and from ~ 1770 onwards. Because of this duplicity, one could consider a teacher-student relationship, which would have to be checked. From 1780, the year of their wedding, as reported by The New Groove Dictionary of Women Composers (1994), she lived in the Brandenburg margrave city ​​of Ansbach in the midst of a musical life that was enriched by the Ansbach court orchestra. This had been significantly expanded ten years earlier after the former Bayreuth court orchestra had moved. In Ansbach von Ahlefeldt was friends with the poet and later Margravine Lady Elizabeth Craven . When this margravial court was also dissolved in 1791, the couple moved to Copenhagen , where her husband became director of the Royal Theater , and she appeared here several times with compositions and as a pianist.

Her opera ballet, composed in Ansbach in 1782, became particularly well-known, premiered in Copenhagen on December 28, 1792 at the Royal Theater and played a total of 37 times until 1812 after her death. A piano reduction of the opera made by Ahlefeldt's hand bears the German title: TELEMAK / on the island of Calypso / An Opera Ballet in IV Acten / from / Ballet = Meister Galeotti / in Music set, and set up for the piano [!] / By / Countess M : T: von Ahlefeldt / née Princess: von Thurn und Taxis . According to RISM, ballet master Vincenzo Galeotti is also the (Ansbach) lyricist. That still needs to be checked. Ahlefeldt composed other operas, vocal music and one or two symphonies. The family got into trouble as a result, so that they left Denmark after only a few years. After a two-year stay in Dresden, where Count von Ahlefeldt was appointed envoy in 1798 , they moved to Prague in 1800. Maria Theresia von Ahlefeldt lived here until her death in 1810. Details about this period are not known.

Works

The number and title of her works are still unclear. RISM OPAC has 9 numbers, one of which is also attributed to the composer Franz Xaver Pokorny.

Opera Ballet:

  • Telemak paa Calypsos Øe (Telemach on Calypso). 4 acts, libretto and choreography: ballet master Vincenzo Galeotti 1782. Danish version 1792, (Danish?) Song texts: Christen Henriksen Pram

Symphonies:

  • in F for 4th st. String orchestra, 2 oboes and 2 horns;
  • in D, also awarded to Ms. X. Pokorny

Vocal music:

  • Il mio ben quando verrà aria ~ 1789 [1]
  • L'Harmonie cantata for 2 sopranos, choir and orchestra
  • Romance di Nina for soprano and instruments (score (MS) in the Royal Music Collection Dresden)
  • 3 operas

Ballet:

  • 2 ballets

Sources and literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ M. Magnussen: Composers Maria Theresia Ahlrfeldt - og andre kvinder i dansk musikliv ca 1750-1800. Diss. Copenhagen U., 1990.
  2. ↑ See RISM .
  3. ↑ See in: J. Murray Barbour: Pokorny Vindicated . In: The Musical Quarterly 49, 1963, 1, ISSN  0027-4631 , pp. 38-58.
personal data
SURNAME Ahlefeldt, Maria Theresia von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thurn and Taxis, Maria Theresa Princess of
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH February 28, 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH regensburg
DATE OF DEATH December 20, 1810
Place of death Prague