Bertha Tapper facts for kids
Bertha Johanne Feiring Maass Tapper (born January 25, 1859 – died September 2, 1915) was a talented musician from Norway. She was a composer, a pianist, and a teacher. She is most famous for helping to publish the piano music of the famous Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg in America. She used the name Bertha Feiring Tapper for her published works.
About Bertha Tapper
Bertha Tapper was born in Oslo, Norway. She was one of nine children. She studied music with important teachers like Johan Svendsen and Agatha Backer Grondahl in Norway.
In 1878, she graduated from the Conservatory of Music in Leipzig, Germany. Today, this school is called the University of Music and Theatre. She also studied with Theodor Leschetizkey in Vienna, a very famous piano teacher.
Bertha moved to America in 1881. There, she taught piano and performed music. She played as a solo pianist and also with groups like the Kneisel Quartet. She taught piano at the New England Conservatory from 1889 to 1897. Later, she taught at the Institute of Musical Art from 1905 to 1910. This school later became the famous Juilliard School.
Some of her students became famous musicians themselves. These included Abram Chasins, Lev Ornstein, and Kay Swift. Bertha often invited her students to her summer home in Blue Hill, Maine.
Bertha's Musical Works
Bertha Tapper is best known for editing the piano music of Edvard Grieg. Editing music means preparing it for publication. She made sure Grieg's music was ready to be printed and sold by the company Oliver Ditson.
In 1910, an advertisement for one of her edited books said: "The editor is in sympathy with the composer's genius." This means Bertha understood Grieg's musical style very well. She worked carefully and understood the special way Grieg wrote music. His music is often seen as a symbol of Norwegian composition.
Bertha also wrote an article called "Mastering Piano Problems." It was part of a book named Piano Mastery by Harriette Brower, published in 1911. She also edited a piano piece by Emil Sjogren called The Far Country, opus 41.
Here are some of Edvard Grieg's piano works that Bertha Tapper edited:
- Concerto in a minor for piano and orchestra, opus 16
- Eight Lyric Pieces, opus 12
- Eight Lyric Pieces, opus 38
- From Holberg’s Time, opus 40
- Larger Piano Compositions
- Peer Gynt Suite, opus 46
- Piano Lyrics and Shorter Compositions
- Puck, opus 71
- Six Lyric Pieces, opus 43
- Sketches of Norwegian Life, opus 19
- Sonata in e minor, opus 7
