Wurm, Marie

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Wurm, Marie

Wurm, Marie noted English pianist; b. Southampton, May 18,1860; d. Munich, Jan. 21,1938. She studied piano with Raff and Clara Schumann in Germany. Returning to England, she took theory lessons with Stanford and Arthur Sullivan. She was quite successful as a concert pianist in England and Germany; in 1925 she settled in Munich. Her avocation was conducting; she organized a women’s orch. in Berlin, and conducted its inaugural concert on Oct. 10, 1899, arousing considerable curiosity. She was an ambitious composer and also publ. Das ABC der Musik and Praktische Vorschule zur Caland- Lehre. Her sisters, Adela Wurm and Mathilda Wurm, who made their careers in England, changed their last name to Verne in order to exorcise the vermicular sound of the original German family name, as pronounced in English.

Works

WORKS Die Mitschuldigen, opera (Leipzig, 1923); Piano Concerto; String Quartet; Violin Sonata; Cello Sonata; Piano Sonata; numerous piano pieces (Valse de concert, Barcarolle, Sylph Dance, Suite, gavottes, mazurkas, etc.).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn /Dennis McIntire