Mayer, Emilie

Mayer, Emilie – Faust-Ouvertüre op. 46 für großes Orchester

(b. Friedland, Mecklenburg, 14 May 1812 – d. Berlin, 10 April 1883)

for large orchestra

Preface
Emilie Mayer represents an exceptional figure in the German music scene of the 19th century: during the 18th and 19th centuries, gender roles became increasingly polarized; men were associated with the public sphere, women with the private, and this division came to be regarded as natural.1 The social constraints on women’s scope for action also extended to the musical sphere, where women were usually confined to composing smaller genres of piano music and songs associated with the domestic sphere. Women were also systematically excluded from the ‘aesthetics of genius’ that emerged in the 19th century; thus, the ‘excesses of the cult of genius […] are to be found where women have no place’….

The life of the unmarried and childless Emilie Mayer stands in clear contrast to the contemporary ideal of womanhood; nevertheless, she succeeded in establishing herself within the male-dominated musical world. Her rise to become a professional composer was closely linked to her move to Berlin in 1847; there she continued her studies and gained access to a concert scene that, in terms of scope and quality, far exceeded the musical opportunities available in her former places of residence, Friedland and Stettin.3 In 1851, she confidently had herself listed for the first time as a ‘composer’ (Componistin) in the Berlin directory and increasingly established herself in Berlin’s musical life. …

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