Zumsteeg, Emilie

SINGER, COMPOSER, PIANIST (GERMANY)
BORN 9 Dec 1796, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg - DIED 1 Aug 1857, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
GRAVE LOCATION Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg: Hoppenlau-friedhof

Daughter of the composer Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg, who was appointed court musician at the Stuttgarter Hofkapelle in 1781. He had known Schiller in his younger years and Franz Schubert had studied his compositions after he came to know them in 1811. Emilie was the seventh and last child and her father died when she was only five years old.

Little is known about her youth, but her mother ran a music store when she grew up. She must have started composing at an early age, because some of her work was already published in 1817.

She had a successful career as a singer, a conductor, a composer and a pianist. She had a great ability for sight-reading, her songs were very popular and she was surrounded by a circle of talented musicians. She also stood in contact with Carl Maria von Weber, Franz Liszt, Gustav Schwab and others.

King Wilhelm I of Württemberg appreciated her work and provided her with a yearly sum. She succeeded Julie Schubart as the director of the Frauenzimmerchor in Stuttgart around 1812 and held that position until her death in 1857. Some of her compositions were lost and her work is nowadays largely forgotten.

Related persons
• knew Liszt, Franz
• knew Schwab, Gustav
• knew Weber, Carl Maria von

Images

The grave of Emilie Zumsteeg at the Hoppenlau Friedhof, Stuttgart.
Picture by Androom (31 Jan 2007)

 

Sources
Baedeker's Stuttgart, Automobile Association, 1987


Zundel, Georg Friedrich

Published: 29 Feb 2008
Last update: 26 Jan 2022