Woman's Work in Music Part 6

Among the many women who have attempted this form of composition, some have already been mentioned, but a number have been satisfied with it for their only efforts in extended style. Lizzie Harland produced her dramatic cantata, "C[oe]ur de Lion," in 1888, following it with the "Queen of the Roses" for female voices. Ethel Mary Boyce, winner of various prizes, has composed "Young Lochinvar," "The Sands of Corriemie," and other cantatas, as well as a March in E for orchestra.

Miss Heale, another London aspirant, is credited with "Epithalamion,"

"The Water Sprite," and other choral works. Emily M. Lawrence has produced "Bonny Kilmeny" and "The Ten Virgins," both for female voices, while Caroline Holland has written the cantata, "Miss Kilmansegg," and the ballad, "After the Skirmish," for chorus and orchestra. Miss Holland has won laurels as a conductor, besides being known as a composer. All of these have done a greater or less amount of work in the small forms, for piano, voice, or violin.

Still longer is the list of women who have worked wholly in the shorter forms. Yet the absence of ambitious work must not be taken to indicate a lack of musical genius, for many of England's best known musical women rest their fame upon a few short pieces. There is a vast difference between good music and great music, and a song of real worth often outlasts an ambitious but overswollen symphony that is laid on the shelf after one hearing.

In the field of violin music, there are many women deserving mention.

Margaret Gyde, after taking prizes and scholars.h.i.+ps, produced two excellent violin sonatas, besides piano pieces, songs, and some organ music. Contemporary organists, in pa.s.sing, are well represented by Kate Westrop, who has published four short voluntaries for organ. Laura Wilson Barker, wife of Tom Taylor, has entered the cla.s.sical arena with a violin sonata, and has done more ambitious work in the music to "As You Like It" and the cantata "[OE]none." Caroline Carr Moseley has produced several pieces for violin and 'cello, and has written one or two dainty works for toy instruments. Mrs. Beatrice Parkyns, born of English parents at Bombay, has several charming violin compositions to her credit, and the same may be said for Kate Ralph, a native of England. Emily Josephine Troup is another violin composer, who has also tried her hand at songs and piano pieces. Maggie Okey, at one time wife of the pianist De Pachmann, and now married to Maitre Labori, famous as the advocate of Dreyfus, has composed a violin sonata, a violin romance, and several piano pieces. Kate Oliver is responsible for some concerted music, while Alma Sanders has produced a piano trio, a violin sonata, and a piano quartette. To-day Ethel Barns heads the list of violin composers among women.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAGGIE OKEY]

By far the most important name in this field of woman's work is that of Agnes Zimmermann. Born in Cologne in 1847, she received her musical education in London. At the Royal Academy of Music she studied piano under Pauer and Potter, afterward attaining high rank as a performer. In composition, her teachers were Steggall and George Macfarren. She won the silver medal of the Academy, and obtained the king's scholars.h.i.+p twice, in 1860 and 1862. In the next year she made her London debut, and a year later appeared with the Gewandhaus orchestra at Leipsic. Her fame as a cla.s.sical pianist was soon established, and her excellent work in editing the sonatas of Beethoven and Mozart bore added testimony to her musical knowledge. Her compositions include a piano trio, three violin sonatas, a suite and other pieces for piano, and a number of songs. Her clear style and thorough musicians.h.i.+p have given these works more than a pa.s.sing value, and she is reckoned to-day as one of England's leading women composers.

Still more numerous than the violin composers are the women who have shown their ability merely in the form of a few piano pieces. Almost every eminent performer is at some time tempted to express his own musical thoughts in writing. Such has been the case with Arabella G.o.ddard, the famous pianist. Born near St. Malo, in 1838, she played in her native place at the age of four. At six she was studying with Kalkbrenner at Paris. At eight she played before Queen Victoria, and published six piano waltzes. Among her maturer works are an excellent ballade and several other piano selections. Dora Schirmacher, born in 1862, was less precocious, but won the Mendelssohn prize at Leipsic, where she studied under Wenzel and Reinecke. Her works consist of a suite, a valse-caprice, a sonata, a serenade, a set of tone pictures, and so on. Amina Beatrice Goodwin was another child prodigy, first playing in public at the age of six. She studied with Reinecke and Jada.s.sohn at Leipsic, Delaborde at Paris, and finally with Liszt and Clara Schumann. She has published many piano selections, besides founding a pianoforte college and publis.h.i.+ng a good book of practical hints on technique and touch. She is married to an American, Mr. W.

Ingram-Adams. The list of piano composers might be extended much further, but these are the most representative names.

Of the long list of song composers, but few have produced anything of marked artistic value. Foremost among these at present is Liza Lehmann, who has recently become famous through her song cycle, "In a Persian Garden." She came of a gifted family, for her father, Rudolph, was an excellent artist, and her mother a composer of songs, which were modestly published over the initials "A. L." Her grandfather was Robert Chambers, famed by his Encyclopaedia. Born in London, she studied singing with Randegger, and composition afterward with Freudenberg, of Wiesbaden, and the Scottish composer, MacCunn. She expected to make a career as a singer, but found herself so extremely nervous whenever appearing that she was forced to abandon the idea. She persevered awhile, however, and has been frequently heard in Great Britain and Germany.

In 1894 she retired and married Mr. Herbert Bedford. Only then did she begin those efforts in composition that have since met with such great success. She has published a number of songs and some piano and violin pieces, but is always thought of in connection with her cyclic setting of the Persian poet, Omar Khayyam. When she composed this, she was little known, and fortune as well as fame was a stranger to her. Oddly enough, all the London publishers refused this work, which has since then charmed two continents. Finally it was sung at her house by a gathering of musical friends, the performers being Ben Davies, Albani, Hilda Wilson, and David Bispham. They were so delighted with it that they brought it out at the Monday "Pops," and after that its success was a.s.sured. There are other song cycles by this composer, notably "In Memoriam," but none equal the "Persian Garden." It is full of rich pa.s.sages of exquisite beauty, moving pathos, and strong expression.

Frances Allitsen pa.s.sed a lonely childhood in a little English village.

She would improvise warlike ballads for amus.e.m.e.nt, though her later works and her character are marked by gentleness of thought. She hoped to make a name by singing, but unfortunately lost her voice. Her family were all hostile to a musical career, and regarded her tastes as most heinous. She describes the scene of her youth as a place "where, if a girl went out to walk, she was accused of wanting to see the young men come in on the train; where the chief talk was on the subject of garments, and the most extravagant excitement consisted of sandwich parties." Domestic misfortunes and illness left their mark on her, but could not hinder her musical progress. She finally sent some ma.n.u.scripts to Weist Hill, of the Guildhall Music School, and with his approval came to London. Her days were spent in teaching, to earn money with which to pay for her studies in the evening, but she braved all difficulties, and finally won success. She is best known in America by her songs, which are really beautiful settings of Browning, Sh.e.l.ley, Longfellow, Heine, and other great poets. But she is a master of orchestral technique as well. Her overture, "Slavonique," was successfully performed, and a second one, "Undine," won a prize from the lady mayoress. Her room is a delightful gallery of photographs of artists and musicians. She has a picture of Kitchener, whose example, she says, ought to cure any one of s.h.i.+rking; hence the mistaken anecdote that she could not work without a picture of Kitchener on her desk.

Mrs. Rhodes, known in the musical world as Guy d'Hardelot, was of French ancestry and birth. She spent her childhood in a Norman castle, and her youth in Paris and London, studying music. After marriage she met with reverses, and was forced to earn a living by teaching. She studied composition with Clarence Lucas, and gives him great credit for developing individuality. She has three excellent guiding maxims,--"Avoid familiar things, choose words so clear that people can see the picture, and be sure that the climax comes at the end."

Her songs succeed in combining the elegance and lightness of the French school with the appealing simplicity of the English. Her reputation was established with her first publication, the melancholy and dramatic "Sans Toi." Her many succeeding lyrics range from liveliest humour to deepest pathos, and all are thoroughly artistic. Widely known are "Sans Toi," "Mignon," "Vos Yeux," "Say Yes," "Chanson de Ma Vie," "La Fermiere," "Valse des Libellules," and many others. Her favourite poets are Victor Hugo and Ella Wheeler Wilc.o.x, a rather strange mixture. Her only attempt in larger form is the operetta "Elle et Lui." She is a great friend of Mme. Calve, who is especially fond of her songs. She has accompanied Calve on an American tour, and has appeared with her before Queen Victoria at Windsor. She sings herself with a light but attractive voice and the most perfect diction. Of late she has composed for Calve some acting songs, such as "The Fan."

Maude Valerie White takes rank among the very best of England's song writers. Born at Dieppe in 1855, she entered the Royal Academy at the usual age, completing her studies at Vienna. During her student days she produced a ma.s.s, and at various times she has composed violin and 'cello pieces, but she has won most fame, as well as much money, by her songs.

Grove considers the best of these to be the settings of Herrick and Sh.e.l.ley; he gives high praise to her setting of the latter's "My soul is an enchanted boat," and considers it one of the finest songs in our language. Her other lyrics include such gems as "To Mary," "Ophelia's Song," "Ave Maria," and so forth, besides a number of exquisite German and French songs. Her careful attention to the metre and accents of the words, combined with the excellence of the poetry she chooses and the real worth of her music, have won the admiration of all music lovers.

Florence Gilbert, a sister of the well-known dramatist, has won some renown as a ballad composer. She studied harmony and composition with Stainer and Prout, and after this excellent training spent much time in creative work. For a long time she let her songs remain in ma.n.u.script, out of diffidence as to their value. Finally Mme. Helen Trust, the singer, came upon them, and obtained permission to bring out the "Message to Phyllis." Its success was p.r.o.nounced, and the composer was easily persuaded to issue her other works.

One of the older group of song composers is Clara Angela Macironi, whose work has been known many years. Born in 1821, she studied in the Academy, and became one of its professors. Her suite for violin and piano is well written, but she is known to the general public chiefly by her part-songs. Some of these have been sung by three thousand voices at the Crystal Palace. She has published many songs for solo voice also, but these are hardly equal in musical worth to the productions of the more recent geniuses.

Less high in standard, but vastly popular, are the songs of Hope Temple, of whose works "My Lady's Bower" and "In Sweet September" are probably familiar in many households. Edith Cooke has found a vein of dainty playfulness in "Two Marionettes" and other similar songs. The productions of Kate Lucy Ward are graceful and musicianly, while Katharine Ramsay has written some admirable children's songs. Without enumerating more, it may be worth mentioning that the famous Patti has tried her hand at composing songs, and that Lady Tennyson has set some of her husband's lyrics, although he is said to have been tone-deaf and unable to appreciate any music.

The Irish songs of Alicia Adelaide Needham are said to be exceptionally good, and thoroughly new and local in flavour. Ireland is also represented among women composers by Christina Morison, who produced a three-act opera, "The Uhlans," and wrote many songs; Lady Helen Selina Dufferin, whose songs are widely known, especially the "Lay of the Irish Emigrant;" and Lady Morgan, born in the eighteenth century at Dublin, and known through her operetta, "The First Attempt."

Scotland can show no great woman composer. There are a few ballad writers besides those already mentioned, but they are of little importance. Wales can boast one musical daughter in Llewela Davies, who won a large collection of prizes while at the Royal Academy. Her works include three sketches for orchestra, a string quartette, a number of songs, and a violin sonata that received a London performance in 1894, and was highly praised by the critics.[6]

CHAPTER VII.

GERMANY

It is only natural that the country whose composers have led the world for more than two centuries should produce many musical women. The list excels not only in point of length, but in merit and priority. It begins with the nun Roswitha, or Helen von Rossow, who flourished at the end of the tenth century, and won renown by her poetry, some of which she set to music. But in modern times many important names are found in Germany at a time when few or none appear in other countries.

Music was considered a proper relaxation for royalty, and in the eighteenth century every petty court aimed to keep its orchestra and performers, while very often the exalted hearers would try their own hands at playing or composing. Frederick the Great was especially fond of music, and played the flute with much skill and persistence, and his sister, the Princess Anna Amalie, was as gifted as her brother in a musical way. She wrote many compositions, of which an organ trio has been published in a Leipsic collection, while her cantata, "Der Tod Jesu," represents a more ambitious vein. Contemporary with her was Maria Antonia, daughter of the Emperor Charles VII., and pupil of such famous men as Porpora and Ha.s.se. Her musical aspirations took the form of operas, of which two, "Il Trionfo della Fedelta" and "Talestri," have been published recently. Amalia Anna, d.u.c.h.ess of Saxe-Weimar, composed the incidental music for Goethe's melodrama, "Erwin and Elmira," and won flattering notices, though part of their praise may have been due to her rank. Maria Charlotte Amalie, d.u.c.h.ess of Saxe-Gotha, published several songs, and wrote a symphony for an orchestra of ten instruments.

Coming into the nineteenth century, we find the Princess Amalie of Saxony possessed of considerable talent. Her skill showed itself in the form of various pieces of church music and no less than fourteen operas, best among them "Die Siegesfahne" and "Der Kanonenschuss." The Empress Augusta herself, wife of Kaiser Wilhelm I., besides always fostering the art of music, was gifted with a talent for composing, even in the larger forms. Among her works are an overture, the ballet "Die Maskerade," and several marches, of which one is on the German army lists at present.

Princess Charlotte of Saxe-Meiningen, who lived but twenty-four years, found time to compose several marches and a number of songs and piano pieces.

Among living composers, Princess Beatrice of Battenberg is the author of a number of melodious songs, also an orchestral march and some church responses. Saxe-Meiningen seems to hold its own in the present as well as the past. Princess Charlotte, daughter of the Emperor Frederick III., has composed some military and Turkish marches, also a tuneful "Cradle Song" for violin and piano. Marie Elizabeth, of the same princ.i.p.ality, counts among her works an "Einzugsmarsch" for orchestra, a Torch Dance for two pianos, a number of piano pieces, and a Romanze for clarinet and piano.

One of the most notable female figures in German music was Maria Theresa von Paradies. Born at Vienna in 1759, she met with an accident when three years old, and became blind for life. Even with this drawback, however, her musical apt.i.tude was so great that her parents were justified in letting her begin regular studies and procuring the best teachers for her. At the age of eleven she appeared in public, singing the soprano part of Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, and playing her own accompaniment on the organ. This interested the Empress Maria Theresa, who procured the best of teachers for her. She made such rapid progress in piano that at her first concert she was able to arouse the utmost enthusiasm by her expressive and sympathetic performance. She made a number of concert tours, winning plaudits everywhere. In Paris, where she stayed six months, she appeared at the Concerts Spirituelles, and played frequently before Marie Antoinette. After various royal audiences in England and Germany, she returned to Vienna, where she soon retired from public life, and devoted herself to teaching and composition.

Her memory was something phenomenal. It is said that she was able to play no less than sixty concertos with the most absolute accuracy, besides knowing any number of smaller piano works. Her power of concentration is also made evident by the fact that she would dictate her own compositions, note by note, without the slightest alteration.

Very few, even among the great composers, have possessed this faculty.

Wagner and Mendelssohn were perhaps the most gifted. Beethoven's great works were the result of much careful correction, and in some cases represent as many as six or eight revisions.

Her compositions have won praise from the greatest musicians, and show merit of a high order. Among her dramatic works, the most successful in point of performance are "Rinaldo and Alcina," a fairy opera (appreciated in its day much as "Hansel and Gretel" is in our own), the melodrama "Ariadne and Bacchus," and the pastoral operetta "Der Schulcandidat." Her other works include a piano trio, a number of sonatas and variations for piano, several songs and other vocal works, besides a few cantatas. Her remarkable gifts won her the friends.h.i.+p of the foremost musicians of her time. Among others Mozart admired her greatly, and dedicated a concerto to her.

Another figure of musical importance was Marianne Martinez. Born at Vienna in 1744, she began her musical studies while still a child. Her first efforts at composition were made when she was twelve years old, and met with a most favourable reception, though of course they cannot compare with her later productions. She was an excellent pianist, or what would correspond to a pianist in our day, and among her teachers on the harpsichord was Haydn himself. She became equally proficient in singing, under the great teacher, Porpora, and the historian Burney speaks of her vocal accomplishments with unstinted praise.

Among the works of her maturer period, her church music ranks highest of all. Her oratorio "Isacco," with words by Metastasio, is her worthiest production, and met with deserved success when performed at Vienna in 1788. Besides this work, she composed two other oratorios, a successful ma.s.s, a four-part Miserere, a number of psalms for four and eight voices, with orchestral accompaniment, several motets, and many other pieces of a religious character. The list of her works does not end here, but comprises symphonies, overtures, and other orchestral numbers, including several piano concertos. Taken as a whole, her works ent.i.tle her to a worthy place among women composers of all time.

Leaving the eighteenth century, the next woman composer of note is Emilie Zumsteeg. Born at Stuttgart in 1796, she soon showed that she had inherited the musical taste of her father, himself a well-known composer. On his death, six years later, the widow supported herself by keeping a music-store, where the growing daughter absorbed much knowledge of the art. Soon she began regular study, and won her way into notice by her singing and piano-playing. Her sight-reading abilities were something phenomenal, and she could play from full instrumental scores with ease. Her home became the centre of a brilliant circle, including Weber, Hummel, Lindpaintner, and poets as well as musicians.

She was much prized as a teacher of piano and singing, and a personal favourite in her native city. Of her compositions, the most ambitious is an overture to the play "Die Geister Insel." She wrote also several piano pieces, among them three polonaises. But according to German authority,[7] it is her songs that have made her memory honoured. Her originality and her skill in metrical treatment have won her high praise, and many of the songs achieved wide popularity.

Leopoldine Blahetka, the Austrian pianist, was one of the most prolific of women composers. Born near Vienna in 1811, she made such rapid progress under her mother's tuition that by Beethoven's advice she was placed under Czerny in her fifth year. She pursued composition as well as piano, and when twelve years old was able to appear in Vienna and play a set of variations with her own orchestral accompaniment. Among her later teachers were Moscheles, Kalkbrenner, and Sechter. She made frequent tours, and met with universal success. The criticisms of her work include an extremely favourable notice by Schumann. In 1840 she settled in Boulogne, where she became renowned as a teacher, and led a successful career until her death in 1887.

Of her many works, the most ambitious are a piano concerto, the "Souvenir d'Angleterre" for piano and orchestra, and two sets of piano variations with orchestral accompaniment. Among her numerous examples of chamber music are found variations for string quartette and piano, two piano quartettes, a piano trio, several violin sonatas, a polonaise, and sets of variations for 'cello, violin, and flute with piano. She has composed a grand duet and a number of solos for piano, also numerous vocal duets and songs. Her operetta, "Die Rauber und die Sanger," was successfully produced at Vienna.

One of Germany's greatest women composers was Emilie Mayer. Hers was a fortunate position, for she was always well provided for, and could exercise her powers without the need to think of the financial result.

She was born in Friedland in 1812, her father being "Apotheker," a position of far more importance in German towns than that held by our pharmacists. Emilie showed the usual signs of musical talent, and was given the best of teachers. After advanced work with Carl Loewe, the great ballad composer, she entered the musical life of the German capital. Here she gave a concert as her introduction, playing the piano herself, and making the programme entirely of her own compositions. On this occasion were given a concert-overture, a string quartette, Psalm 118 for voices and orchestra, and two symphonies, the "Militaire" and the B minor. This was an imposing array, but it was only a beginning, and her productive career continued until her death in 1883.

Not all of her works have been published, but all show good thematic material and an unusual sense of musical form. The list includes many dances and songs, two string quartettes, two piano quartettes, two quintettes, ten piano trios, eight violin sonatas, twelve overtures, Psalm 118 with orchestra, seven symphonies, and an operetta. This is certainly an extensive catalogue for any composer. Among the printed works, the best are the "Faust" overture, Op. 46; the violin sonatas, Op. 17 and 21, also the nocturne, Op. 48, an expressive work; the 'cello sonata, Op. 47; the piano trio, Op. 13; and for piano solo an allemande, Op. 29, that is full of masculine power and energy.

Agnes Bernouilly, a native of Berlin, was another woman who devoted herself to orchestral productions. Her works in the larger forms have been given often by the Saro orchestra and others, while her songs and piano works have received much praise from the critics. Another composer of renown was Aline Hundt, one of Liszt's best pupils, who was born in 1849, and died at the early age of twenty-four. In her short career she wrote a march for orchestra, a "Champagnerlied" for tenor solo, chorus, and orchestra, selections for viola and violin with piano, a number of male choruses, and several songs and piano pieces. Theresa Schaeffer has composed a festival overture for grand orchestra, besides many piano pieces and songs. Anna Benfey-Schuppe wrote an overture for "Gotz von Berlichingen," as well as incidental music to other plays and various chamber works. Nanette von Schaden, a native of Salzburg, composed two piano concertos, as well as numerous sonatas and rondos for piano.

Constanze von b.u.t.tenstein, besides issuing a number of songs and piano works, has published an "Ave Maria" for alto voice, with an orchestral accompaniment that is sometimes reduced to organ and string quartette.

Among other symphonic writers, Nina von Stollewerck, a native of Austria, is credited with two symphonies. She has written other ambitious works, besides songs and male choruses of some merit. Agnes Tyrell is another Austrian, having been born at Brunn in 1848. She pursued her studies at Vienna, where she became an excellent pianist as well as a composer. Among her works are a symphony, three overtures, and a number of smaller orchestral selections, as well as some worthy piano pieces.

Louisa Adolpha Lebeau, born at Rastatt in 1850, is undoubtedly one of the most gifted of living women composers, not only in her own country, but in the entire world. Her teachers include such famous names as Clara Schumann and Kalliwoda for piano, and Rheinberger in composition. She is an excellent pianist, and has made frequent and successful tours to all the great cities of Germany. Her appearance at the Gewandhaus concerts in Leipsic is in itself a proof of her superior attainments in this direction. She often performs her own works, which are always successful.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOUISA ADOLPHA LEBEAU]

With the exception of symphony and opera, her compositions include practically every form used in modern music. Her Concert Overture, Op.

23, first performed in 1882, has been repeatedly given in Germany. Her Festival Overture, also, has met with a warm reception. Her piano concerto, Op. 37, is another work that is frequently heard, while the Fantasia, Op. 25, for piano and orchestra, practically another concerto, is rich in musical beauty, and contains a _finale_ of exceptional strength. Among orchestral works with chorus, her oratorio, "Ruth," Op.

27, is a work of extreme beauty, and one which has been heard in all the important cities of Germany, Austria, and Holland. The cantata "Hadumoth" is another valuable work, showing great dramatic strength and an excellent handling of large choral effects. A concert aria for baritone and orchestra, "Im Sangersaal," is also worthy of mention.

It is her chamber music, however, that is responsible for her greatest triumphs. This is marked by the utmost clearness of thought and theme, and shows a most pleasing originality. It has been highly complimented by such a great musician as Lachner, and one of her pieces for 'cello and piano carried off first prize in a compet.i.tion at Hamburg, in 1882, in which many noted composers had entered. Of great merit is a quartette, Op. 28, for piano, violin, 'cello, and viola. Another worthy work is the string quartette, Op. 34. Her trio, Op. 15, for piano, violin, and 'cello, the 'cello sonata, Op. 17, and the violin sonata, Op. 10, have been cla.s.sed with the very best examples of their kind. Her other works include a number of piano pieces, among them some excellent fugues, three solos for the humble and seldom-heard viola, and a lovely romance for violin and piano.

A number of other German women have attained prominence through their concerted music. Josephine Kanzler, born at Tolz in 1780, wrote two string quartettes, besides piano sonatas and songs. She was a pupil of the famous Abt Vogler. Helene Liebmann, about fifteen years later, produced several quartettes of the same sort, as well as two piano trios and a number of violin sonatas, piano pieces, and songs. Clementine Batta has published a Melodie Religieuse for voice, piano, 'cello, and organ. Louise Kern has shown a fondness for combining violin, organ, and piano. Louise Langhans (maiden name j.a.pha), born at Hamburg in 1826, is usually given an honourable place in the German lists of women composers. She studied with Robert Schumann, at Dusseldorf, and became famous as a pianist. Her compositions, not all published, include several string quartettes, a piano trio, sonatas, choral works, fragments of an opera, and a number of effective piano pieces. Among contemporary composers, Mathilde von Kralike has published a piano trio of some interest.

Of the women who have attempted large choral works, there are several besides those already mentioned. Baroness Bertha von Bruckenthal has received high praise for her "Grand Messe Solennelle," and for some four-voiced numbers with organ accompaniment. She has also written pieces for violin, 'cello, voice, and piano. Angelica Henn, one of Kalliwoda's best pupils, is credited with a "Missa Solemnis," also an opera, "The Rose of Lebanon," and some songs and instrumental works.

Anna Pessiak-Schmerling, born in Vienna, was for many years teacher of singing at the conservatory there, and won more than a local reputation through the performance of her ma.s.ses. Johanna Kinkel is responsible for a "Bird Cantata," as well as an operetta and many popular songs. Hers also is the well-known quartette, "The Soldier's Farewell." Agathe Plitt, a child prodigy in her early years, is still an excellent pianist, and has entered the lists in composition with a number of successful cantatas, psalms, motets, and other sacred works. Hermine Amersfoodt-Dyck won fame by producing the cantata, "Gottes Allgegenwart."