| Anna Amalia of Prussia | |
|---|---|
| Princess of Prussia | |
 Portrait as anamazon byAntoine Pesne from before 1757 | |
| Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg | |
| Reign | 1755–30 March 1787 |
| Predecessor | Marie Elisabeth, Abbess of Quedlinburg |
| Successor | Sophia Albertina, Abbess of Quedlinburg |
| Born | Anna Amalie von Preußen 9 November 1723 Berlin,Kingdom of Prussia |
| Died | 30 March 1787(aged 63) Berlin,Kingdom of Prussia |
| Burial | |
| House | Hohenzollern |
| Father | Frederick William I |
| Mother | Sophia Dorothea of Hanover |
| Prussian Royalty |
| House of Hohenzollern |
|---|
 |
| Frederick William I |
|
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 ofFrederick William I of Prussia and the sister ofFrederick the Great.
Princess AnnaAmalia of Prussia was born on 9 November 1723 inBerlin,Kingdom of Prussia as the 12th child and 7th daughter of KingFrederick William I (1688–1740) and his wife, born PrincessSophia Dorothea of Hanover (1687–1757). She had 13 siblings, 10 of whomsurvived infancy, including the futureFrederick the Great (1712–1786).[1] The Prussian royal children were raised inBerlin, where they lived in theRoyal Palace (Königliches Schloss; today Berlin Palace/Berliner Schloss), but they also regularly spent time in the king's favourite residence, ajagdschloss ("hunting lodge") inKönigs Wusterhausen.[2]
Amalia was musically inclined, just likeCrown Prince Frederick, but her formal instruction was only possible after the death of theirabusive father[citation needed] who considered music to bedecadent.[3] Frederick William had an unpredictable temper,[4] 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 analcoholic whose favourite hobby was smokingpipes with commoners, an extremely pious and narrow-mindedCalvinist[4] who loved his wife and was faithful to her, but behaved violently towards his whole family,courtiers, and anyone who upset him.[5]
He preferred a simple life and only enjoyed German food and culture, detesting everything French.[2] He thought that women were for breeding only and have to be completelysubmissive to their husbands.[6] 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 internationaldiplomacy.[4] 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 theharpsichord, theflute, and theviolin.[citation needed]
The king was especially cruel to the crown prince as he considered his passion for music, literature and French culture unmanly.[7] After many beatings and much humiliation, Frederick attempted to flee to their mother's family inEngland in 1730, but was captured andcourt-martialed. For her part in the escape attempt, the king almost beat his eldest daughter PrincessWilhelmine (1709–1758) to death.[8] Amalia was 7 years old at the time. In May 1740, Frederick William I died and Amalia's eldest brother succeeded him as Frederick II.[9]
After PrinceAdolf Frederick of Holstein-Gottorp (1710–1771) was elected heir of the childless king ofSweden,Frederick I in 1743, Prussia,Russia, and Sweden pursued an alliance.[10] A marriage was suggested between the new Swedish crown prince and either Amalia or her elder sisterLouisa Ulrika (1720–1782). Their brother King Frederick thought that Louisa Ulrika was too ambitious to be a good queen in a relatively powerless monarchy[11] as Sweden was then in theAge of Liberty (1720–1772), a period ofparliamentary governance.[10] 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 Swedishcourt. However, the Swedishenvoy preferred Louisa Ulrika, and she wasmarried by proxy in July 1744.[11]
In 1755, after the death of the previous abbess, DuchessMarie Elisabeth of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp (1678–1755), Amalia was electedprincess-abbess of theFree Secular Imperial Abbey of Quedlinburg (German:Kasierlich Freie Weltliche Reichsstift Quedlinburg),[12] which made her a wealthy and influential woman with the right to sit and speak in theImperial Diet.[13] She spent most of her time in Berlin and devoted herself to music, becoming known as apatron andcomposer.[citation needed] In 1758, she started studyingmusic theory and composition fromJohann Kirnberger(1721–1783), a student ofJohann Sebastian Bach.[citation needed]
She achieved modest fame and is most known for herchamber music, includingtrios,marches,cantatas,songs, andfugues.[citation needed] Her favourite among her own compositions was thepassion cantataDer Tod Jesu ("The Death of Jesus"), based on a poem byKarl 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 thearchives of theSing-Akademie zu Berlin inKyiv which had been lost sinceWorld War II.[14]
Amalia also collected music, preserving over 600 volumes by Johann Sebastian Bach,George Frideric Handel,Georg Philipp Telemann,Carl Heinrich Graun andCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach, among others. Her library was split betweenEast Germany andWest Germany afterWorld War II and reunited after theGerman reunification of 1990. Today it is housed in theBerlin State Library.[14]
Princess-abbess Anna Amalia died on 30 March 1787 at the age of 63[15] and was buried inBerlin Cathedral. She was succeeded by her niece, PrincessSophia Albertina of Sweden (1753–1829).[citation needed]
I. Adagio, II. Allegretto, III. Allegro ma non troppo[16]
Her flutesonata is maybe Amalia's most well-known composition.[17] It has a duration of about 11 minutes.[16]
I. Allegro, G minor, II. Andantino,C major, III. Allegro, G major
Theconcerto is scored forsoloharpischord, 2flutes, 2oboes, 2bassoons, and strings. It is written for achamber 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 aminuet with atrio featuringwind solos.[18]
I. Adagio,B-flat major, II. Allegro, B flat major
Thedivertimento shows a possible influence byMozart and might be the first chamber music featuring aclarinet. It opens with atutti part and is then led by theviola.[18]
Based on the title page of the Divertimento (from IMSLP.org), it was actually composed byDuchess Anna Amalia of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
| Ancestors of Anna Amalia, Abbess of Quedlinburg[19] |
|---|
Anna Amalia | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Princess-Abbess of Quedlinburg 1756–1787 | Succeeded by |
| Roman Catholic abbesses (966–1540) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Lutheran abbesses (1540–1803) | ||
