Introduction

Biography

Luise was the daugh­ter of com­pos­ers Jo­hann Fried­rich Reich­ardt and Ju­li­ane Reich­ardt, and grand­daugh­ter of Bo­he­mi­an vi­olin­ist and com­pos­er Franz Ben­da.

In 1809, she moved to Ham­burg, where she stu­died with Jo­hann Fred­er­ich Clas­ing. She al­so taught sing­ing and di­rect­ed a wo­men’s chor­us which by 1819 evolved in­to the Ham­burg Sing­ver­ein.

Her life knew tra­ge­dy: Her fi­an­cé, Fried­rich Esch­en, died short­ly before they were to mar­ry. Her se­cond fi­an­cé al­so died be­fore their wed­ding. Some­what lat­er, she lost her voice.

Works

Known for her trans­la­tions and ar­range­ments of Han­del’s ora­to­rios, she com­posed ov­er 90 song and chor­us­es of her own.