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Rosa Spier in 1961
Portrait of Rosa Spier (1923), painting by Johan Hendrik van Mastenbroek
Harp concert on the evening of honor for Rosa Spier's 60th birthday in the Small Hall of the Concertgebouw , Amsterdam

Rozalie "Rosa" Spier (born November 7, 1891 in The Hague , † July 8, 1967 in Amsterdam ) was a Dutch harpist .

Career

Spier was interested in music from an early age. She studied at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague . Spier was so talented that she was already playing concerts at the age of thirteen.

After completing her training, she took harp lessons from Otto Müller, principal harpist with the Berlin Philharmonic . During her career she was employed by orchestras as well as a freelance soloist and worked successively with the Residentie Orkest in The Hague, the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest in Hilversum. She also gave harp lessons at the Amsterdam Conservatory . The harpist Phia Berghout is one of her best-known students . Spier composed several pieces for the harp, such as Impressions on Saul and David . The composer Leo Smit wrote a harp concerto and chamber music pieces for harp for her, and Sem Dresden composed a sonata for flute and harp for Spier.

From 1932 Spier worked as principal harpist in the Concertgebouw Orchestra. When all 56 Jewish musicians in the orchestra were released in May 1941, she was also affected. In September 1941 she played in the Jewish Symphony Orchestra ( Dutch Joodsch Symfonie-Orkest ). She was first in the concentration camp Westerbork accommodated and in September 1944 in the concentration camp Theresienstadt deported. She was released in February 1945 and was able to travel to Switzerland .

After the war , Spier owned nothing more than her harp, which neighbors had kept for her.

After her return to the Netherlands, she continued to give concerts as long as she could, which became increasingly difficult for her. During this time she developed the idea of ​​a community of older artists and intellectuals who inspire each other. Her friend Henriette Polak-Schwarz in particular campaigned for the realization of Spier's idea, which, however, did not live to see the inauguration of the old people's home named after her.

Rosa Spier died in Amsterdam in 1967 at the age of 75. Her grave is in the Westerveld cemetery in Driehuis, a part of the municipality of Velsen .

In July 2011 her biography entitled Weg van de harp was published.

Honors

In 1923 she was portrayed by the Dutch painter Johan Hendrik van Mastenbroek at the age of about 32.
On the occasion of her 60th birthday, the Phlox paniculata variety "Rosa Spier" was named after her.
The old people's home for artists, founded in 1969 in the North Dutch community of Laren on her initiative, was named after her Rosa Spier house . Artists like M. C. Escher , actress Emmy Lopes Dias and comic artist Marten Toonder spent their twilight years there .

literature

  • Phia Berghout: In memoriam Rosa Spier . In: Mens en Melodie , 22, 1967, pp. 248-250.
  • Regina Everden: Weg van de harp. Biography about harpiste Rosa Spier. Cantique, Rijssen 2001.

Web links

Commons : Rosa Spier  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Annemiek de Jonge: Spier, Rozalie (1891–1967). In: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. Retrieved April 18, 2018 (Dutch).
  2. ↑ Ad van Liempt: Kopgeld Nederlandse premiejagers op zoek naar joden 1943 . Uitgeverij Balans, 2009, ISBN 978-94-6003-068-0 ( google.nl [accessed April 18, 2018]).
  3. ^ Johan Hendrik van Mastenbroek. In: rkd.nl. Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD) , accessed on April 18, 2018 (Dutch).
  4. ↑ Photo collection - Zoeken - gahetNA. In: gahetna.nl. Retrieved April 18, 2018 (Dutch).
personal data
SURNAME Spier, pink
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Spier, Rozalie; Beek, Rosa (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch harpist
DATE OF BIRTH November 7, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH The hague
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1967
Place of death Amsterdam