Josephine Lang (1815 - 1880)

Josefine (Josephine) Lang was born in Munich, Germany into a talented, artistic family. Her maternal grandmother and her three maternal aunts were singers. She began her musical studies with her mother, Regina Hitzelberger (1788-1827), a singer and teacher, and her father, violinist Theobald Lang (1783-1839). In 1830, she studied theory with Felix Mendelssohn. Around 1835, Lang became fascinated with the music of Robert Schumann; he subsequently praised her music in an 1837 review and published one of her songs in a supplement to his journal in 1838. Lang's compositions, the earliest dating from 1828, include almost 50 works published with opus numbers (mostly lieder), many pieces without opus numbers, and other works in manuscript. In 1842, she married lawyer/poet Christian Reinhold Kšstlin (1813-1856) and wrote many songs based upon his poetry. Her first music to be performed in public (1887) was a group of five songs.