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Donald Macleod delves into Johanna Müller-Hermann’s friendship with Alma Mahler and Zemlinsky.

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 became engaged to Dr Otto Müller in 1893, marrying him the following year. As was expected at the time, she gave up her career as a primary school teacher. However, now that she was no longer working, Müller-Hermann was able to pursue her passion for music and started learning from a number of eminent musicians including Karel Navrátil and Josef Labor. Around this same period, she also became friends with Alma Mahler and they often corresponded. It was through Alma Mahler that Müller-Hermann became acquainted with the famed composer Alexander von Zemlinsky. She began lessons with Zemlinsky, and dedicated her String Quartet to him.

String Quartet in E flat, Op 6 (Moderato)
Artis Quartet
Peter Schuhmayer, violin
Johannes Meissl, violin
Herbert Kefer, viola
Othmar Müller, cello

Intermezzo in D, Op 3 No 4 (Fünf Klavierstücke)
Hiroaki Takenouchi, piano

Vier Lieder, Op 2
Soraya Mafi, soprano
Simon Lepper, piano

Violin Sonata in D minor, Op 5 (Moderato serioso) UK Broadcast Premiere
Jennifer Pike, violin
James Baillieu, piano

String Quartet in E flat, Op 6 (excerpt)
Artis Quartet
Peter Schuhmayer, violin
Johannes Meissl, violin
Herbert Kefer, viola
Othmar Müller, cello

Die stille Stadt, Op 4 No 1
Kitty Whately, mezzo-soprano
Joseph Middleton, piano

Produced by Luke Whitlock