Mary J. A. Wurm (her surname was originally Würm) (18 May 1860 in
Southampton
Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
– 21 January 1938 in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
) was an
English 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 def ...
.
Life and career
She was born as Mary Josephine Agnes Würm in England, the sister of
Alice Verne-Bredt,
Mathilde Verne, and
Adela Verne. She lived in Stuttgart as a child, but later returned to London. She studied piano with
Clara Schumann, Joachim Raff, Elisabeth Caland 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 of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
.
She wrote a piano school according to Caland´s teachings. Her nephew was
John Vallier.
In 1914, Verne published a Practical Preschool collection to be used as teaching material at
Elisabeth Caland 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)
*''Praktische Vorschule zur Caland-Lehre,'' Hannover 1914
Further reading
Caland, Elisabeth ''Die Deppe’sche Lehre des Klavierspiels'' (1897; Repr. Wilhelmshaven, 2004). , trans. as ''Artistic Piano Playing as Taught by Ludwig Deppe'' (1901 Nashville, Reprint
Ydefeldt, Stefan, ''Die einfache runde Bewegung am Klavier: Bewegungsphilosophien um 1900 und ihre Auswirkungen auf die heutige'' ''Klaviermethodik'', (2018) Augsburg: Wissner Verlag orig. Schwedisch,
See also
*
Mathilde Verne
External links
*
References
1860 births
1938 deaths
English classical composers
English women classical composers
English classical pianists
English women pianists
Robert Schumann
British women classical pianists
{{UK-classical-pianist-stub