Emilie Hammarskjöld

Emilie Augusta Kristina Hammarskjöld, née Holmberg, (6 May 1821 – 26 March 1854) was a Swedish composer, singer, pianist, music teacher and organist. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

Background

She was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Emelie Hellgren and the merchant Carl Christian Holmberg. She was taken under the care of Ulrica Brendler and the composer Eduard Brendler. She studied music with Erik Drake and singing from Johan Peter Cronhamn. In 1836, she published her first compositions. She debuted as a concert singer and a pianist in 1838. In 1841, she founded her own music institute in Stockholm. The same year, she also made a study trip to Paris with the poet Julia Nyberg. She was elected in to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 27 May 1841.[1]

Immigration

She married estate-owner Peder Hjalmar Hammarskjöld of Skultuna Bruk in 1844. The same year, they emigrated to the United States because of her husband's creditors. Emilie Hammarskjöld made a grand tour through America and made a great success. She organized and performed a concert in Armory Hall in Washington, D.C. in February 1845, and was given a very good review during her performance as a pianist in New Orleans. After this, she was employed as an organist in Charleston in South Carolina. She also founded a philharmonic society in the city.

She composed seven collected works of which five are preserved. They are made in a romantic style with inventive melodies and surprising turns. Emilie Hammarskjöld was the mother of three daughters. She died in childbirth during the birth of her fourth daughter in 1854 in Charleston, South Carolina.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Holmberg, Emilie Augusta Christina (Wilhelmina Stålberg, P. G. Berg, "Anteckningar om svenska qvinnor /188")
  2. ↑ Holmberg, Emilie Augusta Kristina (Herman Hofberg, Frithiof Heurlin, Viktor Millqvist, Olof Rubenson, "Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon / I:509" 1906)

Other sources