Mon Schjelderup was a Norwegian composer and pianist.

Biography

Maria Gustava Schjelderup was born in Fredrikshald

Fredrikshald

Fredrikshald may refer to:* Fredrikshald Bay, Nunavut, Canada* Fredrikshald, Norway, former name of the town of Halden...

 (now Halden

Halden

is a both a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The seat of the municipality, Halden is a border town located at the Tista river delta on the Iddefjord, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden.-History:...

), Østfold

Østfold

is a county in southeastern Norway, bordering Akershus and southwestern Sweden , while Buskerud and Vestfold is on the other side of the bay. The seat of the county administration is Sarpsborg, and Fredrikstad is the largest city.Many manufacturing facilities are situated here. Moss and...

, of parents Captain Christian Bernhard Koren Schjelderup (1819–1889) and Anne Sofie Preus Berg (1831–1898). She was also the cousin of composer Gerhard Schjelderup

Gerhard Schjelderup

Gerhard Rosenkrone Schjelderup was a Norwegian composer, known especially for his operas. One of five children, each with an artistic bent, his talent was encouraged from youth. In 1878 he traveled to Paris, where he studied cello with Auguste Franchomme and music theory with Augustin Savard...

 (1859–1933).

Schjelderup grew up in a musical home, and wrote her first composition at age 14. She studied piano with Agathe Backer Grøndahl

Agathe Backer Grøndahl

Agathe Backer-Grøndahl was a Norwegian pianist and composer.She was born in Holmestrand, but in 1857 moved with her family to Oslo, where she studied with Otto Winther-Hjelm, Halfdan Kjerulf and Ludvig Mathias Lindeman. From 1865 she studied in Berlin, where she won fame with her interpretation of...

. Later she continued her studies in piano and theory at the Royal College of Music in Berlin

Berlin

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...

, and in composition at the Conservatory in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 with Jules Massenet

Jules Massenet

Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas...

. In 1894 she made her public debut as pianist and composer in Christiania

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. She continued her study with Massenet and began working as a composer and a piano teacher at the Music Conservatory in Christiania.

Mon Schjelderup never married and retired at the age of 34 due to disabling mental illness. She died in 1934 in Asker

Asker

Asker is a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the Viken traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Asker. The municipality is a suburb of Oslo, the national capital...

, Akershus

Akershus

- Geography :The county is conventionally divided into the traditional districts Follo and Romerike, which fill the vast part of the county, as well as the small exclave west of Oslo that consists of Asker and Bærum...

.

Works

Schjelderup composed about forty songs, piano pieces, violin pieces, a sonata for violin and piano and orchestral works. Selected compositions include:

For Orchestra:

• Prelude to 5 Act II of The Wild Duck by Henrik Ibsen
• Fest March, Op. 30, 1900 (arranged for orchestra by Jules Massenet)
• For Violin and Piano: Berceuse, Op. 1, 1893
• Ballade, Op. 2
• 2 Romances, Op. 6, 1894
• Sonata in B minor, Op. 12, 1896

For cello and piano:

• Tungsind, op. 18, 1899

For voice and piano:

• 2 Songs, Op. 10, 1899 (text W. Krag)
• 2 West View, op. 16, 1899 (text W. Krag)
• Huldre Song, Op. 21, 1899 (text A. Garborg)
• Nocturne, Scherzo, Op. 23, 1900 (text V. Krag)
• Birch trees in Bridal Veil, op. 24 (text T. Caspari)
• Jokes Mother To view and Fish Cutting, op. 33, 1902 (text A. Winge)
• A loss, Op. 33, 1902 (text H. Christensen)
• Poppy red, Op. 48, 1905 (text F. Docker-Smith)
• Maria Nøklebånd, op. 61 (text F. Docker-Smith)
• My love no soul on earth to be wide, Op. 63 (text S. Lagerlöf)
• My Beloved dancer in Sale, op. 64(text L.C. Nielsen)
• Nursery Rhymes, 1902
• Songs (text W. Krag)

For piano:

• Au Printemps
• 3 Morceaux, Op. 3
• 2 Piano Pieces, Op. 13, 1898 (lullaby, Song without Words)
• Trifles, 4 light piano pieces, 1903