May Mukle

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

Mukle was born in London, the daughter of Leopold Mukle.[4][5] Her father was an immigrant from Hungary, trained as a clockmaker, but best known as an organ builder in London, part of the partnership Imhof & Mukle.[6] Her sisters Anne and Lillian were also musicians. She studied cello at the Royal Academy of Music with Alessandro Pezze.[7]

Career

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 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

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
  1. "May Mukle Recital Wins London Praise" Musical Courier (11 September 1919): 38.
  2. 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. Stevenson, Joseph. "May Mukle | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  5. "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. Who's who in Music: A Biographical Record of Contemporary Musicians. Pitman. 1915. p. 193.
  8. 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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