Emilie Mayer

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Apologies for yet another question - but I'm just trying to get myself a little wiser, and what could be wrong with that!

Last week whilst undertaking my favourite occupation, namely grubbing around in S/H CD shops, I came across an interesting looking German CD on the Dreyer Gaido label of Emilie Mayer's Symphony 5 in F minor. Worth a go, I thought.

As far as I recall I haven't come across this name before. Some casual snooping around reveals 8 symphonies, 8 string quartets, 3 string quintets, 2 piano quintets, 8 piano trios, songs, and other chamber and orchestral music. An impressive list, methinks, and all that chamber music certainly whets my appetite.

And for those who like these things, this month is actually the 200th anniversary of her birth. She died in 1883, and the more numerate among us should have little difficulty in working out her date of birth.

It seems she was highly regarded in her day. But now, for good or ill, is certainly highly forgotten.

Do we have here yet another 19th German composer of significant note?

[allison]

Dear Peter, If you go to Home and search you will find several references to her, and the intriguing one about an upcoming concert that I would like to learn time travel (and instant money) to attend. I have always been interested in woman composers, and while her Symphony No. 5 will not necessarily burn your barn down, I liked it, of course my musicological motto is I don't know nuthin' about music but I know what I like. Same with Schwertsik

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Many thanks, Allison. I confess I was lazy (or stupid!) in not first undertaking a simple search on the site to see if others had comments on Mayer. The post of one rosflute, together with its links, is especially mouth-watering. And then our own hero-member Mark has also commented with some enthusiasm about her - so I can't be wholly off-beam!

[izdawiz]

  Iv'e hear and have one of her string quartets ,28+ mins. coupled along with a Mrs. Mendelsshon and some other women composer on CPO@ I'd have to say it's promising,  good talent . I'd be intersted in hearing somthing else by her,  orchestral music would peak my interest  

[eschiss1]

Several other works of hers have been recorded (a CD of her violin sonatas, a CD with her 5th symphony and a few other orchestral works), and a member of this forum has put considerable effort into editing and typesetting her orchestral manuscripts for performance (see e.g. here for a blog post of hers, I believe; it's about Mayer's 4th symphony.)

(see this earlier thread.)

[rosflute]

Hi Peter
I have owned a copy of the CD with Mayer's 5th symphony for some years and I am sure you will like it - personally I like the Le Beau piano concerto best.
Emilie Mayer is certainly an interesting composer.   Her music is very good but it is not innovative (she died in the same year as Wagner). As you will have noticed, it is highly reminiscent of Beethoven's for which reason her contemporaries nicknamed her 'the female Beethoven'.
Stefan Malzew is currently working on a re-orchestration of her B minor symphony for performance in October.
Roz

[petershott@btinternet.com]

Thank you, Roz. Yes, I have enjoyed the symphony - and am now much intrigued by her other compositions. What exactly is a "re-orchestration" of the B minor symphony? Nothing too radical, I hope! Hopefully it will be broadcast and even recorded, thus giving us all the opportunity of becoming better acquainted with this neglected composer.

[rosflute]

No nothing radical ! Stefan Malzew, conductor of the Neubrandenburg Philharmonic orchestra is attempting to 'guess' what the original orchestration might have sounded like because the original score is missing and only the piano duet version of the symphony still exists. Quite a big undertaking (and it might have been fun to do a Stravinsky style neo-classical version) !