The music on this site is currently "Kanarien-Trio" by Maria Theresia (Elisabeth) Ahlefeldt (1755-1823).

The following is from the entry on Ahlefeldt by Inge Bruland in the Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers:

Danish composer of German birth. The daughter of Count Alexander of Thurn & Taxis, she was born into a flourishing cultural environment. In 1780 she married the Danish count Ferdinand Ahlefeldt (1747-1815). They lived for a number of years at the court of Ansbach, where Maria Theresia was active in operatic circles. The couple moved to Dresden in 1798 and finally, in 1800, to Prague.

White still in Regensburg she had composed a "Symphonie" in F and at Ansbach wrote the libretto, and possibly the music, for the comic opera, "La Folie ou Quel conte!" In 1792 Count Ahlefeldt was made Hofmarskal (Lord Chamberlain) and director of the Kongelige Theater in Copenhagen, where Maria Theresia gained the opportunity to compose an opera-ballet, Telemak paa Calypso, Oe, with choreography by Vincenzo Galeotti (1792). 37 performances were given up to 1812. Her music is characterized by well-formed and sensitive melody in a simple harmonic and compositional frame, influenced by French opera comique tradition. She was praised by her contemporaries for her orchestration.

Midis of work by early women composers are available at Early Music by Women Composers.

A wealth of information (including useful links) about women composers is available at the site of The International Alliance for Women in Music.

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