Bertha Frensel Wegener facts for kids
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Bertha Frensel Wegener-Koopman (born September 27, 1874, in Bloemendaal – died July 17, 1953, in Amsterdam) was a talented Dutch composer and music educator. She wrote many beautiful pieces of music and helped others learn about music.
Her Life and Music Journey
Bertha Koopman started her musical training at the famous Amsterdam Conservatory. She studied how to compose music and play the piano. Later, she continued learning from important teachers like Bernard Zweers (a composer) and Hugo Bellwidt (a singing teacher) in Frankfurt, Germany.
After finishing her studies, Bertha performed concerts in both Germany and her home country, the Netherlands. She was a skilled pianist and shared her music with many people.
Bertha married Jolen Frensel Wegener. After getting married, she decided to stop performing big concerts. Instead, she focused on being an accompanist (playing piano for singers or other musicians), a teacher, and a composer in Haarlem.
At first, Bertha wrote songs with German words. But after World War I, she started writing songs in French and English. This helped her music reach more people, even in big cities like New York City, Chicago, and St. Louis in the United States.
Bertha's daughter, Emmy Frensel Wegener (1901–1973), also became a musician. Emmy was a violinist and wrote her own chamber music, which is music for small groups of instruments.
Her Musical Compositions
Bertha Frensel Wegener-Koopman wrote many different musical pieces. Here are some of her selected works:
- Vier Lieder (Four Songs), including "Stabat Mater" (1909)
- Dream-woman, a song for a soprano singer with piano (1914)
- Love Songs for soprano and piano, using words by Rabindranath Tagore (1916)
- Eight Lieder (Eight Songs) for a medium voice with piano (1909)
- Deux Chansons (Two Songs)
- Drei Lieder (Three Songs)
- Nursery Songs (1926)
- Four songs, including "a cart on the sandy road driving"
- At Holland's Resurrection (written after May 1945, celebrating the end of World War II in the Netherlands)
