Hannah Mathilde von Rothschild (5 March 1832 – 8 March 1924) was a German-Jewish baroness, composer and

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

Life and career

Frankfurt Am Main-Zeil-Ansicht von der Hauptwache nach Osten-1910

Mathilde von Rothschild was born in Frankfurt, the second oldest daughter of Charlotte and

Anselm von Rothschild Anselm Salomon von Rothschild, baron (29 January 1803 – 27 July 1874) was an Austrian banker, founder of the Creditanstalt, and a member of the Vienna branch of the Rothschild family. Family He was born in the Imperial City of Frankfurt, the ...

, a chief of the Vienna House of Rothschild. Mathilde was talented in music and studied with

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

. In 1849, she married the banker

Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild Baron Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild (Hebrew: שמעון וואלף רוטשילט; May 16, 1828 – 25 January 1901) was a banker and financier of the Frankfurt House of Rothschild. Life and career Wilhelm Carl von Rothschild was the son of Baro ...

, a cousin of her father. The couple first resided in the Rothschild house on the

Zeil The Zeil () is a street in the city centre of Frankfurt, Germany. The name, which dates back to the 14th century, is derived from the German word '' Zeile'' "row" and originally referred to a row of houses on the eastern end of the north side; t ...

(Zeilpalast), but later moved to a palace in Grüneburg, and also lived in a villa in

Königstein im Taunus Königstein im Taunus () is a health spa and lies on the thickly wooded slopes of the Taunus in Hesse, Germany. The town is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. Owing to its advantageous location for both scenery and transport on the ...

. They had three daughters two of whom survived childhood, Adelheid Rothschild (who married her cousin

Edmond James de Rothschild Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (Hebrew: הברון אברהם אדמונד בנימין ג'יימס רוטשילד - ''HaBaron Avraham Edmond Binyamin Ya'akov Rotshield''; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French memb ...

) and Minna Caroline Rothschild (who married

Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild Maximilian von Goldschmidt-Rothschild (20 June 1843 – 18 February 1940) was a German banker and art collector. The son of Benedict Hayum Salomon Goldschmidt, he was the co-inheritor of the Goldschmidt family bank along with his brother Adolphe ...

). Von Rothschild made grants to a number of foundations including The Rothschilds' Hospital Foundation and the Georgine Sara von Rothschilds' Hospital Foundation. She also funded orphanages, sanatoriums, rest homes for the elderly, research projects for the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

and The Jewish Museum of Antiquities. She also founded the at Frankfurt am Main. Von Rothschild wrote songs for singers including Selma Kurz and

Adelina Patti Adelina Patti (19 February 184327 September 1919) was an Italian 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her l ...

. In 1878 she published a volume of 30 melodies in which we find two poems by

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

: "Vieille chanson du jeune temps" and "Si vous n'avez rien à me dire" (cf.

Bibliothèque nationale de France The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...

). In the late 1880s, she published a volume of twelve songs titled ''Zwölf Lieder für Singstimme mit Pianofortebegleitung'' which featured the work of several poets set to music, including poet and dramatist

Franz von Dingelstedt Franz von Dingelstedt (30 June 1814 – 15 May 1881) was a German poet, dramatist and theatre administrator. Life and career Dingestedt was born at Halsdorf, Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), Germany, and later studied at the University of Marbur ...

, epic poet

Friedrich von Bodenstedt Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (22 April 1819 – 19 April 1892) was a German author. Biography Bodenstedt was born at Peine, in the Kingdom of Hanover. He was trained as a merchant in Braunschweig and studied in Göttingen, Munich and Berli ...

, Frankfurt writer Wilhelm Jordan, Russian writer

Alexey Tolstoy Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (russian: link= no, Алексей Николаевич Толстой; – 23 February 1945) was a Russian writer who wrote in many genres but specialized in science fiction and historical novels. Despite having ...

and French writer and librettist

Paul Collin Paul Collin (12 July 1843 – 5 February 1915) was a French poet, writer, translator and librettist. Life and career Collin was born in Conches-en-Ouche. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, his family produced administrative officers in the mili ...

. She amassed an art collection including old masters and also the work of popular artists including

Gerard Dou Gerrit Dou (7 April 1613 – 9 February 1675), also known as Gerard Douw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre scenes and is noted for his ' ...

Jan Steen Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour. Lif ...

and

Gabriel Metsu In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

Recorded works

*''The Songs of Mathilde de Rothschild'' Charlotte de Rothschild (soprano), Adrian Farmer (piano) 2CD Nimbus

References

External links

* http://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_settings.html?ComposerId=5557 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rothschild, Mathilde Hannah von 1832 births 1924 deaths 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers German baronesses Jewish classical composers Musicians from Frankfurt German Romantic composers Mathilde Hannah von German women classical composers 19th-century German composers 20th-century German composers Women classical composers 20th-century women composers 19th-century women composers