Munktell. Helena (1852 - 1919)

Helena Munktell (1852−1919)

Helena Munktell (born in Grycksbo 24 November 1852, died in Stockholm 10 September 1919) trained initially as a singer and pianist, but became primarily a composer. Like some of her Swedish female colleagues, she opted to develop her skills in Paris, where she studied piano for Théodore Ritter, a former pupil of Liszt’s, and composition for Émile Durand and Benjamin Godard in the 1880s. In the following decade she took lessons for Vincent d'Indy. She displayed a solid grasp of form and instrumentation in her four symphonic works and was the first Swedish woman to write an opera.