Elisabeth von Herzogenberg née Elisabet von Stockhausen (born in Paris on 13 April 1847; died in

Sanremo Sanremo, also spelled San Remo in English and formerly in Italian, is a (municipality) on the Mediterranean coast of Liguria, in northwestern Italy. Founded in Roman times, it has a population of 55,000, and is known as a tourist destination ...

on 7 January 1892) was a German pianist, composer, singer and philanthropist.

Biography

Her father had served as a

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

ian ambassador and was a pianist linked to

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 Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

and

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt, amon ...

. Although a Protestant, she married the Catholic

Heinrich von Herzogenberg Heinrich Picot de Peccaduc, Freiherr von Herzogenberg (10 June 1843 – 9 October 1900) was an Austrian composer and conductor descended from a French aristocratic family. He was born in Graz and was educated at a Jesuit school in Feldkirch ...

. She is known in large part for her association with

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

, with whom she studied and with whom she and her husband corresponded copiously. As an aristocratic musician, she largely did not perform or publish for the public, but did arrange children's folk songs. Her lover, the composer

Ethel Smyth Dame Ethel Mary Smyth (; 22 April 18588 May 1944) was an English composer and a member of the women's suffrage movement. Her compositions include songs, works for piano, chamber music, orchestral works, choral works and operas. Smyth tended ...

, devoted chapter XX of ''Impressions That Remained: Memoirs'' to her.

Edited works

* ''24 Volkskinderlieder for voice and piano (1881)'' * ''8 Klavierstücke''

References

1847 births 1892 deaths 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century classical pianists German classical pianists German classical composers German Romantic composers German women classical pianists German women classical composers 19th-century German women composers 19th-century German women pianists German philanthropists German women philanthropists 19th-century German pianists Johannes Brahms {{Germany-music-bio-stub