A FESTIVAL FOR EMILIE MAYER
The title of a recently published biography hails her as “Europe’s greatest female composer.” Emilie Mayer (1812–1883), who made her home in Berlin for many years and had some of her works performed at the Schauspielhaus on Gendarmenmarkt, just a few hundred meters from the Pierre Boulez Saal, fell into oblivion shortly after her death. While her songs and chamber music have been performed more frequently over the last few years, the rediscovery of her symphonic works is only just beginning. The Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin now presents a survey of her music unprecedented in scope: all of Mayer’s surviving orchestral works, newly transcribed from the composer’s manuscripts, will be heard over the course of three concerts.
THE CONCERTS
Fri, October 24, 2025 at 7:30 pm
AKADEMIE FÜR ALTE MUSIK BERLIN & BERNHARD FORCK
Overture in D minor
Symphony No. 1 in C minor
Overture in C major
Symphony No. 2 in E minor
Tue, October 28, 2025 at 7:30 pm
AKADEMIE FÜR ALTE MUSIK BERLIN, BERNHARD FORCK & ALEXANDER MELNIKOV
Overture in D major
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in B-flat major
Symphony No. 3 in C major "Militaire"
Sat, November 1, 2025 at 7:30 pm
AKADEMIE FÜR ALTE MUSIK BERLIN & BERNHARD FORCK
Faust Overture Op. 46
Symphony No. 6 in E major
Symphony No. 5 in F minor
BEHIND THE SCENES
During rehearsals for the Emilie Mayer Festival, we spoke to AKAMUS concertmaster Bernhard Forck about the rediscovery of the composer, her determined personality, the revolutionary era in which she lived and her creations, which will be performed at the Pierre Boulez Saal.
Click on "CC" for English subtitles.
WHO WAS EMILIE MAYER?
A trailblazing 19th-century composer
Emilie Mayer (1812–1883) was one of the few women in 19th-century Germany to make composing her full-time profession. At a time when women were expected to stay home and raise children, she chose a musical career — and never married, dedicating her life entirely to composition.
From pharmacist’s daughter to symphonist
Born in Friedland as the daughter of a pharmacist, Mayer began her musical education early and showed striking determination. By the time she moved to Stettin (now Szczecin) to study with Carl Loewe, the composer of Lieder who became a strong supporter, she had already composed numerous works. There, she turned into large-scale orchestral pieces — a daring pursuit almost unheard of for a woman at the time.
Mayer moved to Berlin in 1848 but fled the city when the revolution broke out. She returned in 1850 and listed herself in the city’s address book as a composer. She organized and financed her own concerts at the Königliches Schauspielhaus (today’s Konzerthaus Berlin), where her music was reviewed and gained recognition. Even the Royal couple attended one of her performances.
Her “Military Symphony”
In Berlin, Mayer met the Kapellmeister Wilhelm Wieprecht, primarily known for his military music, who conducted her Military Symphony in C major with his orchestra. Its instrumentation — featuring piccolo flute, triangle, and drums — gives it a distinctive, martial character. The work was premiered at the Konzerthaus.
Not a “Female Beethoven”
Although she fell into obscurity after her death, Mayer’s music is now being rediscovered and performed again. Often called the “female Beethoven” — a label that can be misleading — her works were influenced by the Viennese Classical style, by Mozart, Carl Maria von Weber, and Rossini, yet her compositional language is unmistakably her own.
With support from LOTTO-Stiftung Berlin and the Freunde und Förderer der Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
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