Emilie Mayer

Unlike other female composers of the 19th century, Emilie Mayer wrote music in larger forms such as the symphony and opera, as well as songs and chamber works. Although her music was quite widely heard during her lifetime, it was almost forgotten after her death and has only in the 21st century seen some rediscovery. Mayer was born on May 14, 1812, in Friedland in northeastern Germany, now in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Her father was a prosperous pharmacist. Her mother, Henrietta Carolina Mayer, died when Emilie was two. She was trained on both piano and organ as a young woman but showed no particular bent for composition until her father committed suicide in 1840, on the 26th anniversary of her mother's burial. Mayer moved to Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) in 1841, where she began composition lessons with Carl Loewe. He praised her talent, and she continued to study with him until 1847. During this period, she wrote a Singspiel (an opera with spoken dialogue) and the first two of her eight symphonies. This was atypical for female composers in the 19th century, who were generally more active in smaller forms such as chamber music and song. In 1847, Mayer moved to Berlin and continued her studies with Adolph Bernhard Marx and Wilhelm Wieprecht. She began to give private concerts of her work and to publish them, and in 1850, Wieprecht led the Euterpe Orchestra in a concert devoted exclusively to her works. From that point on, Mayer had a good deal of renown. She wrote eight symphonies in all, as well as 15 orchestral overtures. Forty-eight of her works were published, including pieces for piano solo, violin and piano, songs, piano trios, string quartets and quintets, a piano concerto (1850), and a large group for cello and piano. Mayer traveled to major German cities and to France, Belgium, and Austria for performances of her works. Mayer died on April 10, 1883, in Berlin, and her output was largely forgotten for many decades. Renewed attention paid to music by women has resulted in recordings of her work in the early 21st century from chamber groups and by several orchestras, including the Philharmonisches Orchester Bremerhaven and its conductor, Marc Niemann. Many of Mayer's compositions, however, remain unrecorded. ~ James Manheim, Rovi