Mary J. A. Wurm (her surname was originally Würm) (18 May 1860 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 ...

– 21 January 1938 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

pianist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Life and career

She was born as Mary Josephine Agnes Würm in England, the sister of Alice Verne-Bredt,

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

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 ...

. She lived in Stuttgart as a child, but later returned to London. She studied piano with

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 ...

and composition with

Charles Villiers Stanford Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (30 September 1852 – 29 March 1924) was an Anglo-Irish composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Romantic music, Romantic era. Born to a well-off and highly musical family in Dublin, Stanford was ed ...

. Wurm became a noted pianist, and in 1898 founded and conducted a women's orchestra in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Her nephew was

John Vallier John Vallier (1 October 1920 – 11 June 1991) was an English classical pianist and composer who was known for his thunderous technique and beautiful singing tone, and was especially admired for his interpretations and performances of Chopi ...

. In 1914, Verne published a Practical Preschool collection to be used as teaching material at

Elisabeth Caland Elisabeth Johanna Amelia Caland (13 January 1862 in Rotterdam − 26 January 1929 in Berlin) was a German pianist, piano teacher and theorist of piano technique of Dutch origin. Life Caland was born in Rotterdam. She received her first educa ...

in Hannover.

Works

Selected works include: *''Mag auch heiss das Scheiden brennen'' *''Christkindleins Wiegenlied aus des Knaben Wunderhorn'' (Text: Des Knaben Wunderhorn) *''Wiegenlied im Sommer'' (Text: Robert Reinick)

External links

References

1860 births 1938 deaths English classical composers British women classical composers English classical pianists English women pianists Robert Schumann Women classical pianists {{UK-classical-pianist-stub

Life and career

Works

See also

External links

References