Sonata in B minor for flute and piano

Amanda Maier (1853–1894), also known by her married name Amanda Röntgen-Maier, was a pioneering Swedish violinist and composer whose career was a landmark for women in Scandinavian classical music.
Born in Landskrona, Sweden, she was initially taught by her father before enrolling at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm at age 16. In 1872, she became the first woman in Sweden to earn the degree of Musikdirektör (Director of Music).
The degree required her to prove she could play most orchestral instruments, including wind instruments, a skill set that was extremely rare for women at the time. Her graduation exam included major original works, such as her Fantasie and Romance in D minor, which was selected to represent Sweden at the World's Fair in Vienna in 1873. Her status as a certified Musikdirektör legitimized her standing in the musical world. For example, in 1872, she was recognized by the newspaper Aftonbladet as one of the three most qualified candidates for the prestigious post of organist at the Storkyrkan (Stockholm Cathedral). While she ultimately chose a career as a traveling virtuoso and composer, her degree broke a critical gender barrier in Swedish professional music education.
She continued her education at the Leipzig Conservatory, studying violin with Engelbert Röntgen and composition with Carl Reinecke.
During the 1870s, she toured extensively across Scandinavia, Germany, Russia, and Finland, frequently performing her own compositions, including her Violin Concerto in D minor with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra.
She was a close friend of Edvard Grieg and maintained a high-profile social circle that included Johannes Brahms, Clara Schumann, and Joseph Joachim.
In 1880, she married the Dutch-German composer Julius Röntgen. Following the marriage and the birth of their two sons, her public performing career largely ceased, though she continued to host musical salons and compose privately.
Her most celebrated compositions include the Sonata in B minor (originally for violin), several string quartets, and her final major work, the Piano Quartet in E minor (1891).