Emilie Mayer

1812–1883 · Romantic · Germany

Emilie Luise Frederica Mayer was a German Romantic music composer who became one of the most prolific women to compose during the nineteenth century. Mayer composed eight symphonies and numerous chamber works, piano sonatas, and orchestral overtures. Despite the limited opportunities for women in professional music during her time, she achieved wide recognition and frequent public performance of her music across Germany. During her lifetime, her work was compared to that of Beethoven. In the twenty-first century, renewed interest in her work developed and her work has become celebrated again for its craftsmanship, originality, and contribution to the Romantic repertoire.