HJELM, Amalia

Amalia Hjelm , actually Amalia Kristina Hjelmstierna , born Munktell on January 30, 1846 in Stora Kopparberg parish , Kopparberg county , died on October 7, 1916 in Stockholm , was a Swedish composer.

Amalia Christina Munktel was born in 1846 in Grüksbo. Her parents were paper mill owner Johan Henrik Munktel and his wife Augusta Eggerts. The couple had nine children, three of whom devoted themselves to art. In addition to Amalia, her younger sister, Helena Munktel, became a composer, and another sister, Emma (married name Sparre), became an artist.

Amalia apparently received her initial musical education at home. Her father was a skilled pianist and was acquainted with, among others, the composer Adolf Fredrik Lindblad . He died when Amalia was fifteen. His wife took over the factory, but she also spent a lot of time in Stockholm with her daughters. There, Amalia took piano lessons from the composer Ludwig Norman and singing lessons from the baritone Fritz Arlberg. Later, in the 1870s, all three sisters studied piano with Marie Louise Öberg.

In 1865, Amalia married naval officer August Hjelmstjerna. Their marriage ended in divorce a few years later. However, from then on, Amalia used the pseudonym "Hjelm," under which she published her works. Little is known about her subsequent life: she lived abroad for some time—in France (in Cannes ) and Switzerland—performing concerts and teaching piano. As a pianist, she contributed to the popularization of Swedish music, likely including the works of her sister Helena. Amalia Hjelm also composed her own music and wrote literary works. After the outbreak of World War I, she returned to Stockholm, where she died in 1916.

Her musical legacy is small, judging by the number of works that have survived to this day. All of them are songs for voice and piano. Unlike her older sister, Helena, Amalia did not write longer works. It is noteworthy that almost all of the songs were written to her own words. As for literary work, in adulthood she published collections of poems (1893) and short stories (1911).