Maria Paulina "Marie Pauline" Åhman, née ''Landby'' (1812–1904), was a Swedish

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

ist. She is known as the first known female musician employed at the Royal Swedish Chapel orchestra

Kungliga Hovkapellet Kungliga Hovkapellet (, "The Royal Court Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra, originally part of the Royal Court in Sweden's capital Stockholm. Its existence was first recorded in 1526. Since 1773 it is part of the Royal Swedish Opera's company. K ...

. She was a student of the harp player

Edward Pratté Edward is an English male name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortunate; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sa ...

1830–35 and was given a position in the royal chapel in 1850 (permanently in 1856). While women had been employed in the royal chapel as vocalists since the employment of

Sophia Schröder Sophia Schröder (Stockholm, 1712 – 29 January 1750) was a Swedish soprano, active as a concert vocalist at the royal orchestra, the ''Kungliga Hovkapellet'', at the royal Swedish court, the first of her gender to have been officially given su ...

in 1727, Åhman is the first known woman to have been employed as an instrumentalist. She kept her position until 1881 and was described as very able and dutiful. She retired with a royal pension. She also held public concerts and was in 1870–75 and 1887–91 active as a teacher at the

Royal College of Music, Stockholm The Royal College of Music, Stockholm () is the oldest institution of higher education in music in Sweden, founded in 1771 as the conservatory of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. The institution was made independent of the Academy in 1971, and ...

, where she had several famous students.

References

'Europas konstnärer'' (The artists of Europe)(1887) Arvid Ahnfelt (Swedish) * Anna Ivarsdotter Johnsson och Leif Jonsson: "Musiken i Sverige. Frihetstiden och Gustaviansk tid 1720-1810" (Music in Sweden. The age of liberty and the Gustavian age 1720–1810) * http://www.hovkapellet.com/sv/musiker/visa_musiker.do?musiker_id=954
Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 33. Väderlek - Äänekoski

* ttp://www.ub.gu.se/fasta/laban/erez/kvinnohistoriska/tidskrifter/idun/1892/pdf/1892_17.pdf Idun Nr 17, 1892

See also

References

Further reading