Gertrude van den Bergh (1793 - 1840)

Anna Gertrude Elizabeth van den Bergh was one of the few women musicians to receive considerable recognition in the Netherlands, both during her lifetime and thereafter. Her compositional talent manifested itself at the age of nine, although her first published work has never been located. She studied piano with Ferdinand Ries and composition with Johann August Franz BurgmŸller. Van den Bergh was one of the first musicians of her time to appreciate and perform J.S. Bach's music, foreshadowing the later Bach renaissance in the Netherlands. Unable to earn a livelihood through informal piano performances, Van den Bergh made a career as a private instructor. She wrote an elementary music theory manual in French as well as many compositions; unfortunately, few of these survive.