A Musical Family

Donald Macleod delves into Müller-Hermann’s aristocratic background in Vienna.

Johanna Müller-Hermann once held a significant place as a composer and teacher in Vienna, yet has been largely forgotten over the decades since her death in 1941. Radio 3 has been working to unearth her music and story through its Forgotten Women Composers project, in collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Dr Carola Darwin. This week, Dr Darwin and Professor Robert Evans join Donald Macleod to explore this fascinating composer and her times. Their series includes many specially recorded works by Müller-Hermann that have sat neglected in dusty archives for decades.

Müller-Hermann was greatly celebrated in her own lifetime and moved in eminent musical circles. She studied with Zemlinsky, befriended Alma Mahler, and also corresponded with Arnold Schoenberg. She went on to teach at Austria’s New Vienna Conservatory where students travelled from as far away as America and the UK to study with her. She became a pivotal figure in Vienna’s cultural scene and her music was regularly performed and published during her lifetime.

Johanna Müller-Hermann was born into a musical and well-to-do family in 1868. She and her siblings would learn quadrilles and round dances with their father, whilst their mother played the piano and sang. Johanna’s older brother Albert, at the age of twelve, set up the Hermann Music Society which put on events on Saturday evenings. The family home was turned into a salon for these concerts: programmes were printed, and friends invited to attend. This was the world in which Johanna first developed her passion for music.

String Quintet in A minor, Op 7 (excerpt)
Pawel Zalejski, violin
SongHa Choi, violin
Klaus Christa, viola
Danusha Waskiewicz, viola
Kajana Pačko, cello

Piano Sonata, Op 8 (Allegro enérgico)
Hiroaki Takenouchi, piano

Herbst, Op 20 No 3 (Vier Lieder)
Kitty Whately, mezzo-soprano
Joseph Middleton, piano

Wie eine Vollmondnacht, Op 20 No 4 (Vier Lieder)
Kitty Whately, mezzo-soprano
Joseph Middleton, piano

Zwei dreistimmige Frauenchöre, Op 10
Maisie O’Shea, soprano
BBC National Chorus of Wales
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Adrian Partington, conductor

Piano Sonata, Opus 8 (excerpt)
Hiroaki Takenouchi, piano

Cello Sonata, Op 17 (Moderato)
Othar Müller, cello
Leonore Aumaier, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock