Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté
| Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté | |
|---|---|
 Photo of Sonia Gramatté (taken in the 1920s) | |
| Born | 6 January 1899 |
| Died | 2 December 1974 |
| Occupation | composer, violinist, pianist, teacher |
Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté (Russian: Софи Кармен Экхардт-Граматте; 6 January 1899 in Moscow, Russia – 2 December 1974 in Stuttgart, Germany) was a Russian-born Canadian [1][2] composer and virtuoso pianist and violinist.
Born in Moscow as Sofia (Sonia) Fridman-Kochevskaya, Eckhardt-Gramatté studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where her teachers included Alfred Brun and Guillaume Rémy for violin, S. Chenée for piano, and Vincent d'Indy and Camille Chevillard for composition. She also embarked on several concert tours of Western Europe, on which she performed her own works. In 1920, she married the painter Walter Gramatté in Berlin. She toured with Edwin Fischer in Germany in 1925.[3]
Following her husband's death in 1929, she pursued further lessons in composition with Max Trapp in Berlin.
In 1934, she married the journalist and art historian Ferdinand Eckhardt and together they moved to Vienna. She dedicated herself exclusively to composition after 1935. The couple relocated again to Winnipeg, Canada in 1953. In Winnipeg she taught several violin students out of a private studio, including violinist Gwen Thompson.
Eckhardt-Gramatté died in Stuttgart as a result of an accident. Her legacy is preserved through the work of the Eckhardt-Grammaté Foundation.
Her compositions included: two symphonies; a concerto for orchestra; a triple concerto for trumpet, clarinet, bassoon, strings, and timpani; three piano concertos; two violin concertos; a piece for two pianos and orchestra; a bassoon concerto; various chamber works; as well as numerous instrumental solos for piano and violin. Most of her compositions remain unpublished.
Selected works
- Lagrime for viola (or cello) and piano, E. 61 (1928)
- Procession funèbre, Symphonic Poem, E. 74 (1928)
- Violin Concerto No. 1, E. 59bis (1929)
- Piano Concerto No. 1 in A minor, E. 60 (1925–31)
- February Suite for violin and piano (1934)
- String Quartet No. 1, E. 103 (1938)
- Symphony No. 1 in C major, E. 104 (1939)
- String Quartet No. 2 "Hainburger-Quartett" (1943)
- Duo for viola and cello, E. 109 (1944)
- Piano Concerto No. 2 in E-flat major, E. 117 (1946)[4]
- Concertino for string orchestra, E. 119 (1947)
- Triotino, "Nicolas-trio" for violin, viola and cello, E. 114 (1947)
- Triple Concerto for trumpet, clarinet and bassoon, E. 123 (1949)
- Bassoon Concerto, E. 124/25 (1950)
- Markantes Stück for piano and orchestra (1950)
- Violin Concerto No. 2, E. 127 (1951)
- Concerto for orchestra, E. 137 (1954)
- Duo concertante for flute and violin, E. 138 (1956)
- Duo concertante for cello and piano, E. 146 (1959)
- String Quartet No. 3, E. 149 (1964)
- Symphony-Concerto for piano and orchestra (Piano Concerto No. 3), E. 154 (1967)[4]
- Piano Trio, E. 157 (1968)
- Symphony No. 2 "Manitoba" (1970)
- Konzertstück for cello and orchestra, E. 163 (1974)
- Six piano sonatas (recorded by Marc-André Hamelin)
- 10 Caprices for solo violin
Literature
- ↑ (de) Curriculum vitae at internet site www.klassika.info
- ↑ Naturalised Canadian, 1958, The Canadian Encyclopedia, http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/emc/sc-eckhardtgramatte, accessed 27 Jan. 2012
- ↑ Kennedy, Michael; Kennedy, Joyce-Bourne (2004). The concise Oxford dictionary of music. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-19-860884-4. OCLC 55051624.
- 1 2 Hinson, Maurice (1981). Music for piano and orchestra : an annotated guide. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press. p. 87. ISBN 0-253-12435-2.
- Eckhardt, Ferdinand (1985). Music from Within: A Biography of the Composer S C Eckhardt-Gramatté, Winnipeg, Manitoba: The University of Manitoba Press. ISBN 0-88755-136-X