Helena Munktell
Helena Mathilda Munktell was a Swedish composer.Biography
She was born at Grycksbo in Dalarna County, Sweden. She the youngest of nine children of Henrik Munktell and Christina Augusta Eggertz. Her mother lived separately in Stockholm and after her father died, the family moved there.
Her sister Emma Josepha Sparre was a painter.
Munktell studied music at the Stockholm Conservatory with :sv:Conrad Nordqvist|Conrad Nordqvist, :sv:Johan Lindegren|Johan Lindegren, Ludwig Norman and :sv:Joseph Dente|Joseph Dente, and then in Vienna with Julius Epstein. She studied both piano and voice, and continued her education in composition in Paris with Benjamin Godard and Vincent d'Indy. Her debut as a composer took place in Sweden in 1885. In the late 1890s, Helena Munktell began to compose music for orchestra. In 1915 she became a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and in 1918 she co-founded the Swedish Society of Composers.
She suffered from eye disease and died at the age of 67 in Stockholm. She was buried at Norra begravningsplatsen in Solna.Works
Munktell composed for orchestra but tended to vocal, choral and operatic works. Selected compositions include:
- Violin Sonata opus 21
- In Florence, opera
- Bränningar, Symphonic Poem
- Suite for Large Orchestra
- Valborgsmessoeld Poem Op.24
- Suite dalécarlienne/Dalsuite Op.22
- Far on the solitary path, Text: Daniel Fallström
- Isjungfrun, ballad, text: Emma Josepha Sparre
- May night Voices, Text: Erik Axel Karlfeldt
- Serenade, Text: Daniel Fallström
- Sleep, sleep
- Magic Power, Text: Emma Josepha Sparre
- Old coffee-o name-day show
- Cantata for Women's Congress, 1897 Text: H. Widmark
- Song of the woods
Her music has been recorded and issued on CD, including:
- Helena Munktell : Symphonic works'' STERLING CDS
