Elise Schlick


Maria Elisabeth, Countess of Schlick was a Bohemia-born composer and poet. She composed music for lieder and also wrote poetry that other composers set to music. She published under the name Countess Elise Schlick or Gräfin Elise Schlick. Although Schlick is often described as German, some sources list her birthplace as Prague and her birth year as 1792.
Little is known about Schlick’s early life or education. She was the sister-in-law of Count Franz zu Bassano und Weisskirchen, an Austrian general who helped suppress the Hungarian uprising in 1849. She was described as a patroness of Franz Liszt in Prague.
Schlick produced compositions through at least opus 5. Her musical compositions were published by Franz Gloggl and C. A. Spina in Vienna; August Cranz in Hamburg; and Schott in Mainz. Her musical compositions and poetry included:

Music

  • "Geisternacht"
  • "Gute Nacht"
  • "Lieb Liebchen, leg's Händchen aufs Herze," opus 5
  • "Lieder der Nacht"

Poetry

  • "Die Lüfte weh'n so lind"
  • "Glaubet nicht es wären Tränen"