Lina Ramann (24 July 1833 – 30 March 1912) was a German writer and teacher known for her books on the Hungarian

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 def ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

. In 1858 Ramann founded a music school in

Glückstadt Glückstadt (; ) is a town in the Steinburg district of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Lower Elbe at the confluence of the small Rhin river, about northwest of Altona. Glückstadt is part of the Hamburg ...

together with her life partner, the pianist Ida Volckmann. The music school was moved to

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

in 1865, and sold to August Gollerich in 1890. In 1874 Ramann published ''Franz Liszts Oratorium Christus'', securing her entry into Liszt's circle. Between 1874 and Liszt's death in 1886, she interviewed him, sent him questionnaires, and had access to all of his manuscripts and publications in his library. She wrote his authorized biography and the first in-depth critical analysis of his works, all of which were published in three volumes as ''Franz Liszt als Künstler und Mensch'' ("Franz Liszt, the artist and man") between 1880 and 1894. It was once believed that Ramann passively received direction from Liszt's second mistress

Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (née Iwanowska, ; 8 February 18199 March 1887) was a Polish noblewoman who is best known for her 40-year relationship with musician Franz Liszt. She was also an amateur journalist and essayist. It is conj ...

. However, the eventual publication of ''Lisztiana'' (1983) showed the extensiveness of Ramann's own researches. Sayn-Wittgenstein succeeded in ensuring that Ramann cast Liszt's first mistress

Marie d'Agoult Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult (born de Flavigny; 31 December 18055 March 1876), was a French romanticism, romantic author and historian, known also by her pen name, Daniel Stern. Life Marie was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, w ...

, recently deceased, in a poor light. But after 1878 there was significant dispute between Ramann and Say-Wittgenstein, with Ramann pushing back strongly:

References

1833 births 1912 deaths German biographers German women biographers 19th-century German women writers 19th-century German writers Liszt scholars {{germany-writer-stub