Alice Samter
Encyclopedia
Alice Samter was a German
music educator and composer
.
to a middle-class family. She trained and worked as an accountant while studying piano, improvisation, choral work and school music at Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory and the Academy of Music in Berlin. In 1945 she received a degree in music and became a teacher in the Spandau
schools where she began to compose school opera. After she retired from teaching in 1970, she became a composer full-time. She was a member of several organizations of composers, including GEDOK Berlin, the International Working Group on Women and Music and the International League of Woman Composers (USA). Her work has been performed internationally, and in 1988 she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.
In 1999 she established the Alice Samter Foundation at the Berlin University of the Arts
to support music students at the university. She also donated funds to the Berlin State Library for the purchase of Clara Schumann
and Fanny Mendelssohn
manuscripts.
Samter's family home was destroyed by a bomb during the war and she moved with her mother and adopted sister to an apartment in Charlottenburg
where she continued to live for the rest of her life. She was the subject of documentary films through West German Broadcasting
(WDR), and her papers are housed in the Berlin State Library. She wrote her last song in 2003.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
music educator and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
.
Biography
Alice Samter was born in BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
to a middle-class family. She trained and worked as an accountant while studying piano, improvisation, choral work and school music at Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory and the Academy of Music in Berlin. In 1945 she received a degree in music and became a teacher in the Spandau
Spandau
Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is the fourth largest and westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.-Overview:...
schools where she began to compose school opera. After she retired from teaching in 1970, she became a composer full-time. She was a member of several organizations of composers, including GEDOK Berlin, the International Working Group on Women and Music and the International League of Woman Composers (USA). Her work has been performed internationally, and in 1988 she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit.
In 1999 she established the Alice Samter Foundation at the Berlin University of the Arts
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
to support music students at the university. She also donated funds to the Berlin State Library for the purchase of Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era...
and Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn , later Fanny Hensel, was a German pianist and composer, the sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn and granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn...
manuscripts.
Samter's family home was destroyed by a bomb during the war and she moved with her mother and adopted sister to an apartment in Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg
Charlottenburg is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, named after Queen consort Sophia Charlotte...
where she continued to live for the rest of her life. She was the subject of documentary films through West German Broadcasting
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
(WDR), and her papers are housed in the Berlin State Library. She wrote her last song in 2003.
Works
Alice Samter's compositions include choral music, chamber music, six opera, three school opera, piano works and solo vocal music with instrumental accompaniment. Selected works include:- The ideal woman (Margaret Gottlieb), (1988), three-part choral song
- Freedom, equality, fraternity (1988) Cantata for mixed choir, alto, flute, clarinet, trumpet, cello, double bass and percussion
- Two choirs (1986) 4 for mixed voices: The monkeys (Wilhelm Busch) - The Snuff Box (Joachim Ringelnatz)
- We saved (Nelly Sachs), (1970) for female choir, violin, cello and piano
External links
- Official site with list of works
- Alice Samter Foundation
- http://www.musicarara.de/