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Alice Tegnér (1864–1943)

Alice Tegnér was born in Karlshamn in southern Sweden and she received her early musical education from her father. At the age of 13 she moved to Stockholm to continue her musical studies, and there she received Composition and piano lessons from Hermann Berens, a teacher at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. She flourished both musically and socially in her new surroundings, but financial hardship and the conservative nature of her marriage later restricted her own musical development, and she turned her attention instead to teaching, which would become her lifelong passion. An interest in the social and educational benefits of music to children formed the focus of much of her compositional output – she was a prolific writer of children’s songs – and she lived out a life of social activism and charitable generosity, contributing greatly to the musical and educational life in Djursholm, a suburb of Stockholm, later becoming influential nationally through the publication of her children’s songbook Nu ska vi sjunga. In 1924 she was elected to The Royal Swedish Academy of Music and her work remains a significant part of Swedish musical life.

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