Emilie Mayer

(b Friedland, Mecklenburg, 14 May 1821; d Berlin, 10 April 1883). German composer and sculptor. The daughter of an apothecary, she received piano lessons and soon began to compose short piano pieces.

In Stettin (now Szczecin) she took lessons with Carl Loewe. During this period she composed songs, chamber music, overtures and symphonies. In 1847 she moved to Berlin, where she studied fugue and counterpoint with Adolf Bernhard Marx and orchestration with Wilhelm Wieprecht. She organized private performances of her music at home and in other houses, as well as in the Königliches Schauspielhaus. Her Sinfonia in B minor (1852), one of her most successful compositions, was given several public performances by Karl Liebig. She went with her brothers to Vienna, and travelled between Berlin, Stettin and Pasewalk, spending considerable money and energy on having her music printed and performed. Later, her financial affairs seem to have deteriorated. Her music was performed in Brussels, Lyons, Budapest, Dessau, Halle, Leipzig and Munich, and was much acclaimed during her lifetime. She was the most prolific German woman composer of the Romantic period, yet most of her music (which is in the Berlin Staatsbibliothek) has remained unperformed since her death.

Her output includes a Singspiel Die Fischerin, several sinfonias and overtures, choral settings and lieder. Among her instrumental works are 9 sonatas for violin and 13 for cello, 11 piano trios and 7 string quartets. She also wrote three sonatas for piano, as well as shorter pieces. Her work adheres to the classical tradition and is modelled on the style of Mendelssohn. Besides composing, she worked as a sculptor, and some of her works were retained in royal collections.