Biography
Amanda Maier, a Swedish violinist and composer active in the latter half of the nineteenth century, earned admiration from fellow musicians yet slipped into obscurity following her passing. Her compositions encompass a violin concerto, assorted chamber works, vocal songs, and pieces for piano. Born in Landskrona, Sweden, in 1853, she displayed an early fascination with music. Details of her youth remain sparse, though her initial training came from her father, Carl Eduard, holder of a musical director’s diploma from the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. She also pursued organ studies under Bengt Wilhelm Hallberg and, at age twelve, entered the Sankt Petri Schule in Copenhagen. Four years afterward she enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, where violin instruction was provided by Eduard d’Aubert. Upon completing her studies in 1872 she achieved the highest marks across all subjects and became the first woman awarded the musical director’s diploma.
The next year Maier relocated to Leipzig to continue her training with Engelbert Röntgen, Carl Reinecke, and Ernst Friedrich Richter. She formed a close bond with the Röntgen household, regularly joining them for meals, social occasions, and holiday festivities. She also began appearing in concerts alongside her teacher’s son, Julius Röntgen, and the two grew deeply attached. During the late 1870s she performed as a violinist throughout Sweden and Norway, joining forces with soprano Louise Pyk and pianist Augusta Kiellander. In 1879 she became engaged to Röntgen; the couple married in 1880. Although she relinquished her career as a touring soloist after the wedding, she continued to appear with her husband at private gatherings, musical soirees, and occasional benefit concerts. These intimate settings led to friendships with Brahms, Grieg, and numerous other leading musicians of the day.
Early in the 1880s Maier and Röntgen jointly produced the compositions Schwedische Weisen und Tänze for violin and piano and Zwiegespräche for piano. Shortly after the birth of their second child in 1886 she contracted tuberculosis, yet experienced several partial recoveries and persisted with composition. She finished her Piano Quartet in E minor in 1891, after which her condition worsened until her death in 1894. For more than a century her name remained largely overlooked, an experience shared by many women musicians of the period. In recent years her music has resurfaced and appears on the albums Rendezvous: Leipzig, Unerhörte Schätze: Musik von Komponistinnen, and Violin's Life, Vol. 3: Music for the 'Lipinski' Stradivari.
The next year Maier relocated to Leipzig to continue her training with Engelbert Röntgen, Carl Reinecke, and Ernst Friedrich Richter. She formed a close bond with the Röntgen household, regularly joining them for meals, social occasions, and holiday festivities. She also began appearing in concerts alongside her teacher’s son, Julius Röntgen, and the two grew deeply attached. During the late 1870s she performed as a violinist throughout Sweden and Norway, joining forces with soprano Louise Pyk and pianist Augusta Kiellander. In 1879 she became engaged to Röntgen; the couple married in 1880. Although she relinquished her career as a touring soloist after the wedding, she continued to appear with her husband at private gatherings, musical soirees, and occasional benefit concerts. These intimate settings led to friendships with Brahms, Grieg, and numerous other leading musicians of the day.
Early in the 1880s Maier and Röntgen jointly produced the compositions Schwedische Weisen und Tänze for violin and piano and Zwiegespräche for piano. Shortly after the birth of their second child in 1886 she contracted tuberculosis, yet experienced several partial recoveries and persisted with composition. She finished her Piano Quartet in E minor in 1891, after which her condition worsened until her death in 1894. For more than a century her name remained largely overlooked, an experience shared by many women musicians of the period. In recent years her music has resurfaced and appears on the albums Rendezvous: Leipzig, Unerhörte Schätze: Musik von Komponistinnen, and Violin's Life, Vol. 3: Music for the 'Lipinski' Stradivari.