BIOGRAPHY   MUSIC   RECORDINGS  SOURCES

Maria Antonia Walpurgis (ETPA), Princess of Bavaria and Electress of Saxony, was born in Munich to Archduchess Maria Amalia of Austria and Emperor Karl VII. Well-educated from a young age, her musical studies with talented composers, Nicolas Porpora and Johann Adolph Hasse, continued even after she married Friedrich Christian in 1747. Walpurgis frequently sang and played harpsichord at court and was also a painter and a writer of poetry. She composed two operas set to her own texts, Il trionfo della fedeltà (1754) and Talestri, regina delle amazzoni (1765), singing the leading role in both operas. These scores were published by Breitkopf and performed throughout Europe. Because she was a member of the Arcadian Academy of Rome, Maria Antonia’s publishing pseudonym was E.T.P.A (Ermelinda Talea Pastorella Arcadia). Her encouragement of other musicians and composers and her contributions to musical life sealed her legacy as both a respected composer and a fervent patron of the arts.

Music

The following selections are recommended for vocal study and programming on recitals and concerts.
Please note that this list may not constitute the entirety of the composer's output. 

Recordings

Sources

Glickman, Sylvia, and Martha Furman Schleifer, eds. From Convent to Concert Hall, A guide to Women Composers. Greenwood Press, 2003.

Sadie, Julie Ann, and Rhian Samuel, eds. The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers. W.W. Norton and Co., 1995.