Prussian princess (1723?1787)
Princess Anna Amalia of Prussia
(9 November 1723 ? 30 March 1787) was an early modern German composer and music curator who served as princess-abbess of Quedlinburg. She was a princess of Prussia as the daughter of
Frederick William I of Prussia
and the sister of
Frederick the Great
.
Early life (1723?1755)
[
edit
]
1729 painting by
Antoine Pesne
showing the visit of
Augustus II the Strong
(1670?1733),
Elector of Saxony
and
King of Poland
. Amalia's mother stands in the center, her sisters on the queen's right and a 6-year-old Amalia on the left, in light blue.
Princess Anna
Amalia
of Prussia was born on 9 November 1723 in
Berlin
,
Kingdom of Prussia
as the 12th child and 7th daughter of King
Frederick William I
(1688?1740) and his wife, born Princess
Sophia Dorothea of Hanover
(1687?1757). She had 13 siblings, 10 of whom
survived infancy
, including the future
Frederick the Great
(1712?1786).
The Prussian royal children were raised in
Berlin
, where they lived in the
Royal Palace
(
Konigliches Schloss
; today Berlin Palace/
Berliner Schloss
), but they also regularly spent time in the king's favourite residence, a
jagdschloss
("hunting lodge") in
Konigs Wusterhausen
.
Amalia was musically inclined, just like
Crown Prince
Frederick, but her formal instruction was only possible after the death of their
abusive
father
[
citation needed
]
who considered music to be
decadent
.
Frederick William had an unpredictable temper,
often dragging her across a room by her hair in a rage.
[
citation needed
]
Amalia's childhood was overshadowed by her father: described as an uneducated, unpolished and spartan soldier, he was an
alcoholic
whose favourite hobby was smoking
pipes
with commoners, an extremely pious and narrow-minded
Calvinist
who loved his wife and was faithful to her, but behaved violently towards his whole family,
courtiers
, and anyone who upset him.
He preferred a simple life and only enjoyed German food and culture, detesting everything French.
He thought that women are for breeding only and have to be completely
submissive
to their husbands.
On the other hand, Queen Sophia Dorothea was a well-educated and ambitious woman who enjoyed theatre and balls and loved French culture and fashion. She entrusted the care of her children to a French staff, to which the king could not object as French was the language of international
diplomacy
.
Music became Amalia's secret consolation.
[
citation needed
]
She was first taught by Crown Prince Frederic with the support of their mother, and learned to play the
harpsichord
, the
flute
, and the
violin
.
[
citation needed
]
The king was especially cruel to the crown prince as he considered his passion for music, literature and French culture unmanly.
After many beatings and much humiliation, Frederick attempted to flee to their mother's family in
England
in 1730, but was captured and
court-martialed
. For her part in the escape attempt, the king almost beat his eldest daughter Princess
Wilhelmine
(1709?1758) to death.
Amalia was 7 years old at the time. In May 1740, Frederick William II died and Amalia's eldest brother succeeded him as Frederick II.
Suggested marriage (1743?1744)
[
edit
]
After Prince
Adolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp
(1710?1771) was elected heir of the childless king of
Sweden
,
Frederick I
in 1743, Prussia,
Russia
, and Sweden pursued an alliance.
A marriage was suggested between the new Swedish crown prince and either Amalia or her elder sister
Louisa Ulrika
(1720?1782). Their brother King Frederick thought that Louisa Ulrika was too ambitious to be a good queen in a relatively powerless monarchy
as Sweden was then in the
Age of Liberty
(1720?1772), a period of
parliamentary governance
.
He described Amalia as mild and good-hearted and thus more suitable for the role. It has been suggested that he believed that Amalia would be easier to control as a Prussian agent in the Swedish
court
. However, the Swedish
envoy
preferred Louisa Ulrika, and she was
married by proxy
in July 1744.
Abbess, composer, and music curator (1755?1787)
[
edit
]
Posthomous
portrait
by the
Realist
artist
Adolph Menzel
.
In 1755, after the death of the previous abbess, Duchess
Marie Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp
(1678?1755), Amalia was elected
princess-abbess
of the
Free Secular Imperial Abbey of Quedlinburg
(
German
:
Kasierlich Freie Weltliche Reichsstift Quedlinburg
),
which made her a wealthy and influential woman with the right to sit and speak in the
Imperial Diet
.
She spent most of her time in Berlin and devoted herself to music, becoming known as a
patron
and
composer
.
[
citation needed
]
In 1758, she started studying
music theory
and composition from
Johann Kirnberger
(1721?1783), a student of
Johann Sebastian Bach
.
[
citation needed
]
She achieved modest fame and is most known for her
chamber music
, including
trios
,
marches
,
cantatas
,
songs
, and
fugues
.
[
citation needed
]
Her favourite among her own compositions was the
passion cantata
Der Tod Jesu
("The Death of Jesus"), based on a poem by
Karl Wilhelm Ramler
.
[
citation needed
]
Only a few of her works have survived and she may have destroyed many of her own compositions, as she described herself as very timid and self-critical.
[
citation needed
]
More compositions by her may surface as a result of the 2000 discovery of the
archives
of the
Sing-Akademie zu Berlin
in
Kyiv
which had been lost since
World War II
.
Amalia also collected music, preserving over 600 volumes by Johann Sebastian Bach,
George Frideric Handel
,
Georg Philipp Telemann
,
Carl Heinrich Graun
and
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
, among others. Her library was split between
East Germany
and
West Germany
after
World War II
and reunited after the
German reunification
of 1990. Today it is housed in the
Berlin State Library
.
Princess-abbess Anna Amalia died on 30 March 1787 at the age of 63
and was buried in
Berlin Cathedral
. She was succeeded by her niece, Princess
Sophia Albertina of Sweden
(1753?1829).
[
citation needed
]
Selected compositions
[
edit
]
Sonata in F Major (for Flute and Basso Continuo) (1771)
[
edit
]
I. Adagio, II. Allegretto, III. Allegro ma non troppo
[16]
Her flute
sonata
is maybe Amalia's most well-known composition.
[17]
It has a duration of about 11 minutes.
[16]
Harpsichord Concerto in G major
[
edit
]
I. Allegro, G minor, II. Andantino,
C major
, III. Allegro, G major
The
concerto
is scored for
solo
harpischord
, 2
flutes
, 2
oboes
, 2
bassoons
, and strings. It is written for a
chamber orchestra
and can be played with as few as one person per part, with a duration of around 13 minutes. It has a well-integrated solo part, and the second movement is mainly orchestral. The finale resembles a
minuet
with a
trio
featuring
wind
solos.
[18]
Divertimento in B-flat major (circa 1780)
[
edit
]
I. Adagio,
B-flat major
, II. Allegro, B flat major
The
divertimento
shows a possible influence by
Mozart
and might be the first chamber music featuring a
clarinet
. It opens with a
tutti
part and is then led by the
viola
.
[18]
Based on the title page of the Divertimento (
from IMSLP.org
), it was actually composed by
Duchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel
Ancestry
[
edit
]
Ancestors of Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg
[19]
|
---|
|
References
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Henry Gardiner Adams, ed. (1857). "
Amalie, Ann
".
A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography
: 32.
Wikidata
Q115632010
.
- Farquhar, Michael (1 May 2001).
A Treasury of Royal Scandals: The Shocking True Stories History's Wickedest, Weirdest, Most Wanton Kings, Queens, Tsars, Popes, and Emperors
(Illustrated ed.).
Penguin Books
. p. 114.
ISBN
978-0140280241
.
- Leitner, Thea (1993).
Skandal bei Hof
(in German). Wien: Ueberreuter.
ISBN
978-3-8000-3492-5
.
- Grimsted, Patricia Kennedy (2003).
Bach is Back in Berlin: The Return of the Sing-Akademie Archive from Ukraine in the Context of Displaced Cultural Treasures and Restitution Politics
(PDF)
.
Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute
. Retrieved
21 June
2022
– via University Center for International Studies, University of Pittsburgh.
- Mitford, Nancy (23 July 2013).
Frederick the Great
(Reprint ed.).
New York Review Books
. pp. 19, 27?29.
ISBN
978-1590176238
. Retrieved
21 June
2022
– via
Google Books
.
- Schieder, Theodor (2000).
"Frederick's youth ? the international situation and personal destiny. Father and son."
. In Berkeley, Sabina; Scott, H.M. (eds.).
Frederick the Great
. Translated by Berkeley, Sabina; Scott, H.M. (English ed.). London, New York:
Longman
. p. 7.
ISBN
0-582-01768-8
.
OCLC
1153309216
. Retrieved
22 June
2022
– via
Internet Archive
.
- Kugler, Franz Theodor (1845).
"Chapter V. Discord Between Father and Son"
.
The Pictorial History of Germany During the Reign of Frederick the Great: Comprehending a Complete History of the Silesian campaigns, and the Seven Years War
. Illustrated by Adolph Menzel. Henry G. Bohn. p. 55.
LCCN
04027314
.
OL
6946179M
. Retrieved
22 June
2022
– via
Internet Archive
.
- Huberty, Michel; Giraud, Alain; Magdelaine, F.; Magdelaine, B. (1989).
L'Allemagne dynastique : Hohenzollern, Waldeck, et familles allies
[
Dynastic Germany: The Hohenzollerns, the Waldecks, and Allied Families
] (in French). A. Giraud. pp. 162, 172.
ISBN
978-2901138051
.
- von Ammon, Christoph Heinrich (1768).
Genealogie ascendante jusqu'au quatrieme degre, inclusivement de tous les rois et princes de maisons souveraines de l'Europe actuellement vivans, reduite en CXIV. Tables de XVI. quartiers, composees selon les principles du blason, avec une table generale
[
Ascending Genealogy up to the Fourth Degree, Including All Kings and Princes of Sovereign Houses of Europe Living Now, in the Form of 114 Tables of 16 Quarters, Composed According to the Principles of Blazon, With a General Table
] (in French). Berlin. Table 16
. Retrieved
21 June
2022
– via
Google Books
.
- Jagerskiold, Olof (1945).
Lovisa Ulrika
[
Louisa Ulrika
] (in Swedish). Stockholm:
Wahlstrom & Widstrand
.
OCLC
15005998
.
Atkinson, Emma Willsher (1858).
"Life of Sophia Dorothea, of Hanover, Third Queen of Prussia"
.
Memoirs of the Queens of Prussia
. W. Kent and Co. pp. 132?133, 179?182, 205.
OCLC
276863655
. Retrieved
21 June
2022
– via
Internet Archive
.
- Benecke, G. (19 May 2014).
Society and Politics in Germany 1500?1750
. London, Toronto, Buffalo:
Routledge
. Appendix III.
ISBN
978-0415759571
.
- Chisholm, Hugh
, ed. (1911).
"Sweden"
.
Encyclopædia Britannica
. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 206.
- Peacock Jezic, Diane (1988). "Anna Amalia, Princess of Prussia (1723?1787). The Court of Frederick the Great".
Women Composers. The Lost Tradition Found
[
Louisa Ulrika
]. New York:
The Feminist Press at CUNY
. pp. 47?50.
ISBN
978-1558610743
.
OCLC
18715963
. Retrieved
21 June
2022
– via
Internet Archive
.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Roman Catholic abbesses (966?1540)
| | |
---|
Lutheran abbesses (1540?1803)
| |
---|
|
---|
|
1st generation
| |
---|
2nd generation
| |
---|
3rd generation
| |
---|
4th generation
| |
---|
5th generation
| |
---|
6th generation
| |
---|
7th generation
| |
---|
8th generation
| |
---|
9th generation
| |
---|
10th generation
| |
---|
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|