Marie Fillunger (27 January 1850 – 23 December 1930) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n singer, and the longtime partner of Eugenie Schumann, who was a daughter of

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 Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

Life

Fillunger was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. She studied at the Vienna Conservatory from 1869 to 1873 under

Mathilde Marchesi Mathilde Marchesi (née Graumann; 24 March 1821 – 17 November 1913) was a German mezzo-soprano, a singing teacher, and a proponent of the bel canto vocal method. Biography Marchesi was born in Frankfurt. Her father's last name was Graumann; ...

. Then, on the recommendation of

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

she studied at the Hochschule in Berlin in 1874 under

Amalie Joachim Amalie Marie Joachim (née Schneeweiss; 10 May 1839 – 3 February 1899) was an Austrian-German contralto, working in opera and concert and as voice teacher. She was the wife of the violinist Joseph Joachim, and a friend of Clara Schumann and Joh ...

. There she met Eugenie Schumann the same year. Eugenie was one of the daughters of

Clara Clara may refer to: Organizations * CLARA, Latin American academic computer network organization * Clara.Net, a European ISP * Consolidated Land and Rail Australia, a property development consortium People * Clara (given name), a feminine giv ...

and Robert Schumann, and she and Fillunger became lovers. Using the Schumann house as a base for a number of years, first in Berlin and then in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

from 1878, Fillunger left for England in January 1889 after a dispute with Eugenie's sister, Marie Schumann. Eugenie joined her in 1892, remaining there until 1912 when she rejoined Marie in Switzerland. Fillunger returned to Vienna. In 1889 she sang in London and at the

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in Beethoven's Choral Symphony. In England, Fillunger established herself as a highly regarded singer of

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er, particularly in the repertoire of

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

and Brahms, who entrusted her with the premieres of many of his works.Alexander Waugh, ''The House of Wittgenstein: A Family at War'', 2008, ch. 44 'The Death of Mrs Wittgenstein'' She toured Australia in 1891 and South Africa in 1895 with Sir

Charles Hallé Sir Charles Hallé (born Karl Halle; 11 April 181925 October 1895) was an Anglo-German pianist and conductor, and founder of The Hallé orchestra in 1858. Life Hallé was born Karl Halle on 11 April 1819 in Hagen, Westphalia. After settling ...

, eventually joining the teaching staff of the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

from which she resigned before the outbreak of the First World War. Fillunger and Eugenie were reunited in 1919 in Matten near

Interlaken , neighboring_municipalities= Bönigen, Därligen, Matten bei Interlaken, Ringgenberg, Unterseen , twintowns = Scottsdale (USA), Ōtsu (Japan), Třeboň (Czech Republic) Interlaken (; lit.: ''between lakes'') is a Swiss town and mun ...

in Switzerland.

Death and legacy

Fillunger died in Interlaken. She is buried alongside Eugenie and Marie Schumann in the Gsteig cemetery in the nearby village of

Wilderswil Wilderswil is a village and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli (administrative district), Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Bern (canton), Bern in Switzerla ...

. An obituary can be read in ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainze ...

'', Vol. 72, No. 1056 (Feb. 1, 1931), pp. 175–176. Her long relationship with Eugenie Schumann is discussed in a number of articles by German music historian Eva Rieger.

References

External links

Letters between Fillunger and Eugenie Schumann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fillunger, Marie 1850 births 1930 deaths 19th-century Austrian women opera singers Voice teachers 20th-century Austrian women opera singers Women music educators People from Interlaken Austrian LGBT singers