Adelheid Maria Eichner facts for kids

Adelheid Maria Eichner (born 1762, died 1787) was a talented German musician. She was a composer, a singer, and a pianist. People admired her amazing singing voice, which could reach three octaves. Adelheid was the only child of Ernst Eichner, who was also a composer and played the bassoon. Her mother was Maria Magdalena Ritter. Some people thought her music sounded better when played by instruments than when sung. It was sometimes hard for her to mix words and music well in her songs.

Early Life of Adelheid Eichner

Adelheid Eichner grew up in a town called Zweibrücken. Her father, Ernst Eichner, worked for Duke Christian IV. He was part of the Duke's special music group, called the Hofkapelle. This was from 1762 to 1772.

Adelheid learned to sing in Mannheim from an older Italian teacher. People believe her father taught her how to play the piano. In late 1773, she and her mother moved to Potsdam. They joined her father there. He had traveled to Paris and London for concerts. He then started working for the Prince of Prussia in August 1773.

Adelheid's Music Career

From 1773, Adelheid worked in the Hofkapelle with her father. She was the only German woman singer in this group. She started performing in public concerts in Berlin in 1777. She was known as the prince's 'Cammer Sängerin' (chamber singer).

From 1781, she also sang at the Berlin Royal Opera. She became a full member of the opera in 1782. There, she sang the main parts in opera seria performances. These were serious and grand operas.

Adelheid Eichner became known as a composer in 1780. This was when her collection of songs, 12 Lieder mit Melodien fürs Clavier, was published. This book is the only one of her works that we still have today. It includes one of the first songs ever written using words by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. This song was called Jägers Nachtlied.

Her songs were very expressive. However, they seemed to be written more for instruments than for voices. This meant the words sometimes didn't flow naturally with the music. Other songs by Adelheid were printed in music books until 1792. She set poems to music by different writers. One of them was General von Stamford, who was a tutor at the Prince of Prussia’s court. He was also engaged to Adelheid.

Known Musical Works

Here are some of the musical pieces Adelheid Eichner created:

• 2 Lieder mit Melodien fürs Clavier (published in 1780)
• Ich hatt' ein kleines Lammchen nur (from 1783)
• Mach mir vom Volk (from 1781–82)
• An die Träume
• Lied eines Mädchens