Danzi, Maria Margarethe (1768–1800)
Danzi, Maria Margarethe (1768–1800)
German composer and singer. Born Maria Margarethe Marchand in 1768 in Frankfurt am Main,Germany; died in Munich on June 11, 1800; daughter of Theobald Marchand, director of the Munich Theater; married Franz Danzi, in 1790.
At age ten, Maria Danzi began singing lessons with Franziska Lebrun , sister of the noted composer Franz Danzi. She would marry Danzi in 1790. From 1781 to 1784, Maria lived with her brother Heinrich in Salzburg in the house of Leopold Mozart, the father of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, taking lessons in piano and composition. She began her singing career in 1786 at the Munich Court Opera.
Although renowned singers rarely excel at other areas of music, Maria Danzi was gifted and confident enough in her talents to become a composer as well. Along with her husband, she went on many concert tours, but she also found time to compose chamber works of charm and structural strength. These include an Andante and Variations for keyboard and a set of three sonatas for piano and violin. In recent years, the sonatas have been republished and recorded, and listeners have found these works eminently listenable. Maria Danzi's talents were not given the chance to come to full fruition due to her death at age 32. Many of her piano compositions have unfortunately been lost.
John Haag , Athens, Georgia