Reichardt, Louise 04/11/1779 - 11/17/1826

Louise Reichardt was a German singer, instrumentalist, composer of songs and later also a conductor. Her father was the famous Johann Friedrich Reichardt (1752-1814). She lacked a regular education but the most important writers, scientists, artists and composers of her time were constantly visiting her family in Giebichenstein bei Halle. At age 15 people marveled at her voice. Her father set his friend Goethe’s poetry to music and Louise sang for him and played the harp. She arranged the poems of Ludwig Tieck, Achim von Arnim, Clemens Brentano and Phillip Otto Runge. In 1813 she moved to Hamburg where she founded a music school for women and led a women’s choir. She performed Händel’s works in Lübeck (1816) and Hamburg (1818, 1820) and was the first female German conductor. She died at age 47.