Elizabeth Mayer
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Mayer was a German-born American translator and editor, closely associated with W. H. Auden
, Benjamin Britten
, Peter Pears
, and other writers and musicians. In the 1940s her homes in Long Island and New York served as an artistic salon for many émigré writers.
Elizabeth Mayer was born in Germany and spent her early life in Munich. Her father had been chaplain to the Grand Duke of Mecklenberg; she studied music and was a skilled pianist.
She was married to the psychiatrist William Mayer, and after the Nazis rise to power, went in to American exile with him.
In collaboration with Marianne Moore
she translated Adalbert Stifter
's Bergkristall (Rock Crystal 1945).
In collaboration with Louise Bogan
she translated Ernst Jünger
's The Glass Bees (1961), Goethe's Elective Affinities (1963) and The Sorrows of Young Werther and Novella (both in 1 vol., 1971). Bogan and Mayer also translated ).
With W. H. Auden, she translated Goethe's Italian Journey (1962). She also translated Hans Graf von Lehndorff's Token of a Covenant: Diary of an East Prussian Surgeon, 1945-47 (1965)
She was the dedicatee and recipient of Auden's poem New Year Letter and the book that included it, The Double Man
(1941). Auden regarded her the emotional equivalent of a mother, and was close to her for many years. Near the end of her life he wrote about her (without naming her) in his poem Old People's Home.
Elizabeth Mayer is the dedicatee of the sixth section, titled "Interlude," of Britten's "Les Illuminations," Op. 18, settings of Rimbaud for high voice and string orchestra.
She was a friend and admirer of Dorothy Day
, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement
.
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
, Benjamin Britten
Benjamin Britten
Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...
, Peter Pears
Peter Pears
Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears CBE was an English tenor who was knighted in 1978. His career was closely associated with the composer Edward Benjamin Britten....
, and other writers and musicians. In the 1940s her homes in Long Island and New York served as an artistic salon for many émigré writers.
Elizabeth Mayer was born in Germany and spent her early life in Munich. Her father had been chaplain to the Grand Duke of Mecklenberg; she studied music and was a skilled pianist.
She was married to the psychiatrist William Mayer, and after the Nazis rise to power, went in to American exile with him.
In collaboration with Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore
Marianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit.- Life :Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of mechanical engineer and inventor...
she translated Adalbert Stifter
Adalbert Stifter
Adalbert Stifter was an Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was especially notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing, and has long been popular in the German-speaking world, while almost entirely unknown to English readers.-Life:Born in Oberplan in Bohemia , he...
's Bergkristall (Rock Crystal 1945).
In collaboration with Louise Bogan
Louise Bogan
Louise Bogan was an American poet. She was appointed the fourth Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1945.-Early years:...
she translated Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger
Ernst Jünger was a German writer. In addition to his novels and diaries, he is well known for Storm of Steel, an account of his experience during World War I. Some say he was one of Germany's greatest modern writers and a hero of the conservative revolutionary movement following World War I...
's The Glass Bees (1961), Goethe's Elective Affinities (1963) and The Sorrows of Young Werther and Novella (both in 1 vol., 1971). Bogan and Mayer also translated ).
With W. H. Auden, she translated Goethe's Italian Journey (1962). She also translated Hans Graf von Lehndorff's Token of a Covenant: Diary of an East Prussian Surgeon, 1945-47 (1965)
She was the dedicatee and recipient of Auden's poem New Year Letter and the book that included it, The Double Man
The Double Man
The Double Man is a book of poems by W. H. Auden, published in 1941. The title of the UK edition, published later the same year was New Year Letter....
(1941). Auden regarded her the emotional equivalent of a mother, and was close to her for many years. Near the end of her life he wrote about her (without naming her) in his poem Old People's Home.
Elizabeth Mayer is the dedicatee of the sixth section, titled "Interlude," of Britten's "Les Illuminations," Op. 18, settings of Rimbaud for high voice and string orchestra.
She was a friend and admirer of Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day was an American journalist, social activist and devout Catholic convert; she advocated the Catholic economic theory of Distributism. She was also considered to be an anarchist, and did not hesitate to use the term...
, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement
Catholic Worker Movement
The Catholic Worker Movement is a collection of autonomous communities of Catholics and their associates founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933. Its aim is to "live in accordance with the justice and charity of Jesus Christ." One of its guiding principles is hospitality towards those on...
.