Elsa Laura von Wolzogen by Nicola Perscheid

Elsa Laura Seemann von Mangern von Wolzogen (5 August 1876 – 25 April 1945) was a German composer,

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

player, and singer. She was born and grew up in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, where her family owned a guesthouse which entertained well-known artists and scholars like

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

. Elsa married

Ernst von Wolzogen Ernst von Wolzogen (23 April 1855 – 30 August 1934) was a cultural critic, a writer and a founder of Cabaret in Germany. Biography Wolzogen came from a noble Austrian family; he studied Literature, Philosophy, and the history of art in Strasb ...

in 1902. Ernst had opened the 650-seat Buntes Theater in Berlin in 1901, one of the first

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

s in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Elsa often sang and accompanied herself on lute at the theater, where Viennese composer

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

conducted the house orchestra. Elsa and Ernst toured the United States from 1910 to 1911. An unidentified critic noted in 1911 that "Elsa Laura sings songs in ten different languages and in many dialects. ... she is equally at home in the folk songs of Provence and in the darky songs of America. The French Chanson and the Tyrolian Schnaderhiipfel have no terrors for her." Elsa composed her own songs and arranged hundreds of French, German and Scandinavian folk songs for voice and lute, which were published by

Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag (abbreviated to Hofmeister) is a publisher of classical music, founded by Friedrich Hofmeister in Leipzig in 1807. Early listings included composers Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt. Hofmeist ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

. She also set poems by her husband Ernst to music. Her works include: *Death Rides *Father Weislein *Five Songs (words by Ernst and Elsa Wolzogen; music by

Juan Manen ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

, opus A-4) *My Lute and Me (1917) *My Songs to the Lute (1910) *Rosemary and Rhombus: Old Lute songs *Ten Cheerful Little Wise Men (1912) *

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

Songs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolzogen, Elsa Laura German women composers German composers German lutenists 1876 births 1945 deaths