Mathilde Kralik

Mathilde Kralik was the daughter of Bohemian glass industrialist Wilhelm Kralik von Meyrswalden (1807–1877) from Eleonorenhain. After the death of his first wife Anna Maria Pinhak (1814–1850), he married Louise Lobmeyr (1832–1905) on 28 May 1851. Mathilde was the fourth of five children from his second marriage to Louise née Lobmeyr. Her brother was Richard Kralik von Meyrswalden, the poet philosopher, historian and arts administrator.[1]

Kralik was born in Linz, and her first compositions were lyrical poems and hymns based on her brother's works. The family regularly had music in the house, as her father William played the violin and her mother Louise played piano. In this way the musically gifted children not only learned the milieu of classical chamber music, but also string orchestra furnished music of the time by Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Early on the parents recognized the musical gifts of their daughter, and the financial circumstances of her father allowed Mathilde the best music teachers of her time.

Kralik took piano lessons from her mother, and later was a pupil of Anton Bruckner, Franz Krenn and Julius Epstein. She passed the 1876 entrance examination for the Conservatory of the Society of Friends of Music, and studied at the Conservatory from 1876 to 1878. She won the second prize for a Scherzo for piano quintet and received first prize for her thesis, Intermezzo from a suite. Kralik graduated from the conservatory with a diploma in composition and the Silver Society Medal.

Kralik's works became popular in the concert scene of Austria. On 19 April 1894 and on 19 April 1895, her compositions were performed at the Brahms-Saal of the Musikverein place. In the 1898/99 season, the Quartet Duesberg presented her 1880 composed Piano Trio in F Major (1880). Josef Venantius von Wöss on 12 January 1900 hosted a concert in the Great Hall of the Musikverein where Matilda book The Baptism of Christ after a poem by Pope Leo XIII was presented. Her Christmas Cantata for solo, choir and orchestra was also staged. On 20 March 1908 in the Brahms-Saal, a concert included four songs and arias from her fairy-tale opera Blume and Weissblume.

Mathilde was Honorary President of the Women's Choir Association Vienna, and a member of the Vienna Bach community, the Austrian Composers, the Association of Writers and Artists Club of Vienna and the Viennese Musicians.

In October 1905, her mother Louise died at age 74. The death of her mother affected Kralik and her work stagnated for half a year. From 1912 onward she lived in their home alone until she took an apartment with Dr. Alice Scarlat (1882–1959) in Vienna.

The opera Blume und Weissblume was presented in 1910 in Hagen, Westphalia, and in 1912 in Bielsko, and was popular not only because of these two performances, but also because of sensationalist coverage in the press. The former Capuchin friar Nicasius Schusser had written an opera Quo Vadis, in which he took 52 pages from Kralik's opera note for note. Mathilde responded in the press, but gave up legal action against Schusser. After World War I the popularity of Kralik's work declined, and she died 8 March 1944 in Vienna.[2]

Selected works include:

Song with instrumental accompaniment:

• Autumn feeling, JW von Goethe text, 1892
• Fantasia in E minor (voice, piano, violin), Kurt Erich Rotter text of dying dreams, 1928

Song with piano:

• Litany of Loreto, words by brother Richard, 1898
• The rosary, words by brother, Richard, 1898
• The love bridge, ballad, words by brother, Richard, 1896
• Empress Zita song, text by Heinrich Ritter Turzansky, 1918
• Vivat Austria, text Josef von Eichendorff, 1908
• Dragoon song, text Theodor Lehnstorff, 1914

Opera:

• Blume und Weissblume, fairy play in three acts. The text of her brother Richard, after the popular book and Flos Blankenflos. Performances on 13 October 1910 in the Municipal Theater Hagen / Westphalia, and on 29 October 1912 in Bielsko-Biala, Silesia.
• Unter der Linde, lyric opera in one act with text by her brother Richard. The opera remained unperformed.
• Der heilige Gral (The Holy Grail), music for dramatic poetry of her brother Richard in three acts. Premiere 1912

Oratories:

• Pfingsfeier, a liturgical oratorio. Text PW Schmidt 1925/26
• St. Leopold, with text by her brother Richard. Premiere in *Klosterneuburg, Stiftskeller Hall on 10 December 1933

Orchestral works:

• Fest-Ouverture in G major, January 1897
• Fest-Ouverture Charlemagne in Vienna in June 1906
• Violin Concerto in D minor (1st movement in 1937, second movement in Dec. 1936)

Solo works for piano:

• Round in January 1882
• Piano Sonata in F minor (1st movement, quasi Rhapsody) 1895
• Prelude, Passacaglia and Fugato
• Polonaise
• Schubert homage march, 1928

Solo works for Organ:

• Interlude
• Festival March, 1907
• Offertory in E-flat major, 1907

Vocal music (A cappella):

• The spirit of love, text by Nathalie Duchess of Oldenburg, 1903
• Spring is coming, music and text Mathilde
• Ms Nightingale, 1931

Chamber Music:

• Sonata (violin and piano), 1878
• Trio (piano, violin and cello), 1880
• Fantasy (piano, cello), January 1929
• Sonnet (clarinet, bassoon, horn) 1912
• German Dances from the eastern provinces (two clarinets, cello, viola) 1943

Shows (offertories etc.):

• Mass in B-flat major (Introit, Gradual, Offertory, Communion), 1903
• Ave Maria, 4 female voices, 1936
• You blissful sunny world, (SATB & cong., chorus SSolo, Piano) Text: FW Weber

Cantata:

• Volkers watch (the watch on the Danube), Festgesang, soloists and choir with text by her brother Richard 1907/1908

Melodrama (spoken voice and piano):

• Luke, the physician, with text by her brother Richard, 1895
• Prinzesslein in Vierblattklee, text by E. Reimer-Ironside, June 1912
• Joan of Arc's death march, text by Alice Baroness von Gaudy, 1920

• Mathilde Kralik in Austria-Forum (in German)
• Mathilde Kralik in Austria-Forum (in German)  (at AEIOU)
• Homepage with music videos of Kralik's compositions
• Genderforschung Hamburg