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May Mukle

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May Henrietta Mukle FRAM (14 May 1880 – 20 February 1963) was a British cellist and composer.[2] She has been described as a "noted feminist cellist",[3] who encouraged other women cellists.[2]

May Mukle
Photograph of a woman with dark hair and eyes, wearing a dark v-necked top or dress.
May Mukle, from an advertisement published in 1919.
Born(1880-05-14)14 May 1880
London
Died20 February 1963(1963-02-20) (aged 82)
Cuckfield, Sussex
NationalityBritish
OccupationCellist
Woman, seated, playing cello, from a 1919 publication.
May Mukle with cello, from a 1919 publication.[1]

Early life

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Mukle was born in London, the daughter of Leopold Mukle.[4][5] Her father was an immigrant from Rohrbach near Furtwangen in the Black Forest, Germany, who trained as a clockmaker, but was best known as an organ builder in London and part of the partnership Imhof & Mukle.[6] Her sisters Anne (pianist), Lillian (trumpet), Flora (singer), Louisa, and Clara were also musicians. She studied cello at the Royal Academy of Music with Alessandro Pezze [ca].[7]

Career

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Mukle was a working musician for over fifty years, including concert tours in Australia, Africa, and Asia.[4] Her instrument was built by Montagnana and bought for her by an anonymous donor.[8] Mukle was also a composer of works for cello and piano.[9]

She performed as a soloist, and in chamber ensembles.[10] She was a member of Rosabel Watson's Aeolian Ladies' Orchestra, and of the all-women English Ensemble, with violinist Marjorie Hayward, violist Rebecca Clarke, and pianist Kathleen Long.[4] In 1925, Mukle played at New York's Aeolian Hall with Percy Grainger and Lionel Tertis.[11] With her pianist sister, Anne Mukle, she was a member of the Maud Powell Trio. Also with Anne, she gave the first performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Six Studies in English Folk Song in London in 1926.[5]

Mukle's apartment near Wigmore Hall was convenient for hosting visiting musicians; she also convinced the landlords to rent other apartments to musicians, so there would be fewer conflicts about noise. She founded the Mainly Musicians Club in a basement in London; during World War II, she converted it into a air raid shelter.[12] She was an original member of the Society of Women Musicians, present at the organization's first meeting in 1911.[7][13]

Mukle was described in The Times as "in the very front rank of living violoncellists",[2] and her obituary in The Times says of her: "by the turn of the century she was fully recognized not only as an outstanding musician but as one of the most remarkable cellists this country had produced."[14]

Personal life and legacy

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Mukle broke her wrist in a car accident in 1959, at age 79, but resumed playing after it healed,[5] performing in North Carolina in 1960.[15] She died at Cuckfield, Sussex, in 1963, at the age of 82.[8] Her portrait, painted by John Mansfield Crealock, is held in the museum of the Royal Academy of Music.[16] The May Mukle Prize was founded in 1964 in her honour and is awarded each year to a cello student of the college.[2][4]

References

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  1. ^ "May Mukle Recital Wins London Praise" Musical Courier (11 September 1919): 38.
  2. ^ a b c d Campbell, Margaret (2011). The Great Cellists. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571278015. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  3. ^ McVeigh, Simon (2010). "Women violinists in London's concert life around 1900". In Hornby, Emma; Maw, David Nicholas (eds.). Essays on the History of English Music in Honour of John Caldwell. Boydell & Brewer. p. 251. ISBN 9781843835356. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Joseph. "May Mukle | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "May Mukle, Cellist". Historical Cellists. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  6. ^ Smith, Kenny (30 August 2019). "Bid to raise £60,000 to save castle's rare instrument". Scottish Field. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  7. ^ a b Who's who in Music: A Biographical Record of Contemporary Musicians. Pitman. 1915. p. 193.
  8. ^ a b Campbell, Margaret. "Mukle, May (Henrietta)". Grove Music Online. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  9. ^ Mukle, May. "The Light Wind". Wise Music Classical. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  10. ^ Seddon, Laura (15 April 2016). British Women Composers and Instrumental Chamber Music in the Early Twentieth Century. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-17134-8.
  11. ^ Downes, Olin (10 February 1925). "MUSIC; The Beethoven Concert". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  12. ^ Horvath, Janet (4 May 2018). "Meet May Mukle, One of Britain's First Great Female Cellists". Interlude. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  13. ^ "The Society of Women Musicians". The British Library. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  14. ^ "Obituaries: Miss May Mukle". The Times. No. 55638. 1 March 1963. p. 14. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  15. ^ "May Mukle, cellist, Mrs. Sutherland Ideler, pianist". UNCG University Archives. 13 October 1960. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Portrait of May Mukle. By John Mansfield Crealock. Oil on canvas, 1930". Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
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