Elfrida Andrée

File:Andrée, Elfrida i VJ 6 1916.jpg

Elfrida Andrée

Elfrida Andrée (19 February 1841 – 11 January 1929), was a Swedish organist, composer, and conductor. A 1996 recording on the Caprice label features Andrée's piano quintet, along with a piano sonata, the string quartet in D minor, and vocal music.

Life and career

Andrée was born in Visby. She was the pupil of Ludvig Norman and Niels Wilhelm Gade. Her sister was the singer Fredrika Stenhammar. An activist in the Swedish women's movement, she was one of the first female organists to be officially appointed in Scandinavia. She began work in Stockholm in 1861 and became the organist at Gothenburg Cathedral in 1867. For her services, she was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. She died in Gothenburg.

Andrée's two organ symphonies are still performed today. Her other compositions included the opera Fritiofs saga (1899, libretto by Selma Lagerlöf), several works for orchestra including two symphonies, a piano quartet in A minor (1870) and a piano quintet in E minor (published in 1865), a piano trio in G minor (1887) (and another published posthumously in C minor), a string quartet in D minor from 1861 and another in A major, pieces for violin (including sonatas in E flat and B flat major) and for piano, two Swedish masses, an 1879 choral ballade "Snöfrid", and lieder.

External links

• Elfrida Andree Piano Quintet in e minor, sound-bites
• Free scores by Elfrida Andrée at the International Music Score Library Project
• Levande Musikarv - Elfrida Andrée (in Swedish)
• Selective discography (in French)
• Songs by Elfrieda Andrée on The Art Song Project

Further reading

• Eva Öhrström, Elfrida Andrée : ett levnadsöde Stockholm: Prisma, 1999. ISBN 91-518-3488-X.