Bertha Frensel Wegener-Kloopman (17 September 18741953) was a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and music educator.

Biography

Bertha Wegener (née Koopman) was born in Bloemendaal

Bloemendaal

Bloemendaal is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. According to the Dutch Central Statistical Bureau, Bloemendaal is the wealthiest place in the Netherlands.-Population centres :...

, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. She studied composition and piano at the Conservatory in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 and continued studying with composer Bernard Zweers

Bernard Zweers

Bernard Zweers was a Dutch composer and music teacher.-Life:Bernard Zweers was born in 1854 as the son of an Amsterdam book- and music shopkeeper...

 and vocal pedagogue Hugo Bellwidt in Frankfurt

Frankfurt

Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...

. After completing her studies, she performed concerts in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and the Netherlands.

Kloopman married Jolen Frensel Wegener and retired from the concert stage to a career as accompanist, teacher and composer in Haarlem

Haarlem

Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...

. Koopman's early songs included German lyrics, but after World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, she wrote her songs in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, which allowed her access to markets in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 and St. Louis. Her daughter Emmy Frensel Wegener

Emmy Wegener

Emmy Heil Frensel-Wegener was a Dutch violinist, pianist, poet and composer, the daughter of composer Bertha Frensel Wegener-Kloopman and Jolen Frensel-Wegener...

(1901–1973) was a violinist and composer of chamber music. Kloopman-Wegener died in 1953.

Works

Selected works include:

• Vier Lieder including Stabat Mater (1909)
• Dream-woman, song for soprano with piano accompaniment (1914)
• Love Songs for soprano and piano on texts by Rabindranath Tagore (1916)
• Eight Lieder für eine Mittlere Stimme mit Klavierbegleitung (1909)
• Deux Chansons
• Drei Lieder
• Nursery Songs (1926)
• Four songs including a cart on the sandy road driving
• At Holland's Resurrection (after May 1945)

Discography

Recordings of Wegener-Kloopman's songs have been issued on CD, including:

• Frensel Wegener Bertha Koopman - Songs, performed by Ingrid Kappelle and Miklos Schwalb. Tatlin Records, TA 001.
• Henriëtte Bosmans and her circle by Henriëtte Bosmans, Lex Van Delden, Willem Pijper, and Bertha Frensel Wegener-Koopman (Audio CD - May 22, 2006), Globe. ASIN: B000026ARU