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Biography
Josephine Lang was a German composer born in Munich on March 14, 1815. Josephine Lang was the daughter of Theodor Lang, a violinist, and Regina Hitzelberger, opera singer. Her mother taught young Josephine how to play piano, and from age five it became apparent that Josephine was possessed with great potential as a composer. From a very young age Lang had always been described as having a “weak constitution”. As early as age eleven Josephine started giving piano lessons herself. Through her godfather, Joseph Stieler, Josephine was exposed to some of the greatest artists of her time. Both Felix Mendelssohn and Ferdinand Hiller went to great lengths to ensure that Lang learned the proper theory for song-writing, and used their connections to publish Lang's music. Even Robert Schumann published a song of Josephine’s in Neue Zeitschrift für Musik in 1838. Her last years were filled with trauma and illness. She died of a heart attack in Tübingen on December 2, 1880.