Bertha Johanne Feiring Maass Tapper (25 January 1859 - 2 September 1915) was a Norwegian composer, pianist, and teacher, best known for editing the piano works of

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

for publication in America. She published under the name Bertha Feiring Tapper.

Biography

Tapper was one of nine children born in Oslo to Berthe Iversdatter and Lars Olsen Feiring. She married Carl Ludvig Otto Maass and they had a son (Louis) and a daughter (Klea). She later married musicologist

Thomas Tapper Thomas Tapper (28 January 1864 – 24 February 1958) was a musician, composer, lecturer, writer, teacher, and editor, who was born in Canton, Massachusetts, and studied music at the American College of Musicians. He wrote many books on music, ...

in New York in 1894. She studied music with

Johan Svendsen Johan Severin Svendsen (30 September 184014 June 1911) was a Norwegian composer, conductor and violinist. Born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, he lived most his life in Copenhagen, Denmark. Svendsen's output includes two symphonies, a violin ...

and Agatha Backer Grondahl in Norway. In 1878, she graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, Germany (today the University of Music and Theatre), and later studied with Theodor Leschetizkey in Vienna. She emigrated to America in 1881. She taught and performed, both as a piano soloist and as an accompanist with the

Kneisel Quartet The Kneisel Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1885 by violinist Franz Kneisel, then concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It continued to perform until 1917, and was generally considered the leading string quartet of its time in t ...

and other musicians. She taught piano at the

New England Conservatory The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...

from 1889 to 1897, and at the Institute of Musical Art (which became the Juilliard School) from 1905 to 1910. Her students included

Abram Chasins Abram Chasins (August 17, 1903 – June 21, 1987) was an American composer, pianist, piano teacher, lecturer, musicologist, music broadcaster, radio executive and author. Born in Manhattan, New York, he attended the Ethical Culture schoo ...

, Lev Ornstein, and

Kay Swift Katharine Faulkner "Kay" Swift (April 19, 1897 – January 28, 1993) was an American composer of popular and classical music, the first woman to score a hit musical completely. Written in 1930, the Broadway musical '' Fine and Dandy'' includes s ...

. She often hosted her students at her summer home in Blue Hill, Maine. Although she is sometimes described as a composer, Tapper is best known for her editions of Grieg’s piano works published by

Oliver Ditson Oliver Ditson (October 20, 1811 – December 21, 1888) was an American businessman and founder of Oliver Ditson and Company, one of the major music publishing houses of the late 19th century. Early life and career Oliver Ditson was born in Bos ...

. Ditson’s ad in a 1910 Boston Symphony program for ''Grieg’s'' ''Piano Lyrics and Shorter Composition''s edited by Tapper noted that “The editor is in sympathy with the composer's genius and has performed her task with care for details and insight into the characteristic idiom which makes Grieg's music almost synonymous with Norwegian composition.”

Works

Tapper contributed an article, “Mastering Piano Problems,” to the book ''Piano Mastery'' by Harriette Brower (Oliver Ditson 1911). She edited at least one piano piece by Emil Sjogren, ''The Far Country, opus 41''. Her editions of Grieg’s piano works, all published by Ditson, include: *''Concerto in a minor for piano and orchestra, opus 16'' *''Eight Lyric Pieces, opus 12'' *''Eight Lyric Pieces, opus 38'' *''From Holberg’s Time, opus 40'' *''Larger Piano Compositions'' *''Peer Gynt Suite, opus 46'' *''Piano Lyrics and Shorter Compositions'' *''Puck, opus 71'' *''Six Lyric Pieces, opus 43'' *''Sketches of Norwegian Life, opus 19'' *''Sonata in e minor, opus 7''

References

Norwegian women composers 1859 births 1915 deaths Women pianists Norwegian pianists Norwegian women editors Norwegian editors {{Improve categories, date=March 2022