1823–1882

Marie Vespermann

Marie Vespermann was a quintuple threat: a pianist, singer, composer, poet, and dramatist, who showed prodigious musical gifts as a child. Born into an artistic Munich family—her father was an actor and her mother was a famous singer—she published songs throughout her life. Her earliest songs appeared under her maiden name Vespermann, and later songs were published under the names Maria Görres or Maria Arndts. (She married the Catholic historian Guido Görres in 1844 and set some of his poems to music; he died in 1852, and she remarried in 1860.) Aside from the two songs featured on this site, none of her songs have been professionally recorded, and none have received scholarly attention.

Additional Resources

Very little has been written about Marie Vespermann, aside from one Wikipedia entry (under her maiden name), another entry (under the name Maria Arndts), and a short entry (under the name Marie Görres) in the International Encyclopedia of Women Composers: Classical and Serious Music, edited by Aaron I. Cohen (New York: Bowker, 1981).

Did you know?

Marie Vespermann appeared in public concerts as young as age nine and began composing songs at age twelve.

Video Recordings

Baritone Klemens Sander and pianist Chanda VanderHart perform Vespermann’s “Nacht Bild,” published in the early 1840s. This is the first ever recording of the song.
Baritone Klemens Sander and pianist Chanda VanderHart perform Vespermann’s “Des Schwanen Abendlied,” published under her married name, Görres, in her 1846 song cycle Die Tageszeiten. This is the first ever recording of the song.

Accessing Scores

Several of Vespermann’s song scores are available in digital form via the Department of Music at the Austrian National Library.

Other Composers
France

Nadia Boulanger

Nadia Boulanger was one of the most renowned composition teachers of the twentieth century—or of any century. Her students are a who’s who of famous

Read More >>
England

Amanda Aldridge

Amanda Aldridge was a British singer, pianist, composer, and teacher. Her father, the celebrated Shakespearean actor Ira Aldridge, died when Amanda was a little over a

Read More >>
France

Cécile Chaminade

French composer and pianist Cécile Chaminade wrote approximately four hundred works, including 125 songs. Almost all of her works were published in her lifetime—rare for

Read More >>