Alice Barbara Verne-Bredt (née Würm; 1864–1958) was an English piano teacher, violinist and composer. Three of her sisters were also noted pianists:

Adela Verne Adela Verne (27 February 18775 February 1952) was a distinguished English pianist of German descent, born in Southampton. She was considered the greatest woman pianist of her era, ranked alongside the male keyboard giants of the time. She toured w ...

Mathilde Verne Mathilde Verne (née Würm; 25 May 1865 – 4 June 1936) was an English pianist and teacher, of German descent. Along with most of her other sisters, Mathilde changed her surname to Verne in 1893 after the death of their father, John Wurm. Lif ...

and Mary Würm (who returned to Germany and retained the original family name).

Life and career

The sixth of ten children, she was born as Alice Barbara Würm in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n professional musicians who emigrated to England in the 1850s. Her father, a music teacher who specialised in

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat bo ...

, violin, and piano, worked as an organist. Her mother was a violinist who taught her the violin from a very early age. Later in her childhood she moved to London, where she lived all her life, and there was taught piano by

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and Clara Schuman's daughter, Marie. Alice wanted to become a singer, but

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

affected her voice. In 1893, her family anglicized their surname from Würm to Verne, and Alice married William Bredt, an amateur musician and conductor. Both greatly contributed to the success of the piano school set up in London by her sister Mathilde in 1909. During the same period she also established The Twelve O'Clock Concerts, a successful concert series for chamber music at the Aeolian Hall in London, where some of her own chamber music was performed. Alice took over the school's junior department, where Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later

Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

, had a

wedding march Music is often played at wedding celebrations, including during the ceremony and at festivities before or after the event. The music can be performed live by instrumentalists or vocalists or may use pre-recorded songs, depending on the format o ...

written especially for her. There she became a pioneer of children's music education and an innovator in the use of percussion bands for that purpose. She died in London in 1958.

Selected works

Few of her works were published. Perhaps the best known is the ''Phantasie Trio'' of 1908 for piano, violin and cello, which won a supplementary prize in the annual

Cobbett Cobbett is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Hilary Dulcie Cobbett (1885–1976), British artist * William Cobbett (1763–1835), British radical agriculturist and prolific journalist. * Walter Willson Cobbett Walter Willson ...

chamber music competition, inaugurated two years before. It was recorded in 2005 by the Summerhayes Piano Trio.

Chamber music

* Cello Sonata * Phantasie Piano Trio (1908) – performed at the Aeolian and Bechstein Halls on 25 January 1912. * Phantasie Piano Quartet (1908) (unpublished) * Phantasie Piano Quintet (no date, unpublished) * Piano Trio, No. 2 * Piano Trio, No. 3 * Wiegenlied (lullaby) for violin and piano (1911)

Piano music

* Arrangement of Pavane: from King Henry VIII's Pavyn (1924) * Four easy inventions for young pianists (1920) ** Musical box ** The little drum ** Concert study ** The doll's promenade * Polacca (Polka) for piano and orchestra (also for string accompaniment) * Valse (1913) * Valse Miniature for two pianos (1913)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verne-Brendt, Alice 1864 births 1958 deaths English classical composers English classical pianists English women pianists English people of German descent Musicians from Southampton Robert Schumann Women classical composers

Life and career

Selected works

Chamber music

Piano music

See also

References