Cornélie van Oosterzee

Cornélie van Oosterzee (16 August 1863 – 12 August 1943) was a Dutch pianist and composer. Biography Cornélie van Oosterzee was born on August 16, 1863, to Pieter Cornélis van Oosterzee and Johanna Theophanie Bernardina in Jakarta (then Batavia). She had six siblings: three brothers and three sisters. At the age of 5, Cornelie moved with her family to The Hague from Jakarta. There, she began piano lessons with Carel Wirtz at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague and at age 16 started music theory lessons under composer and organist Willem Nicolaï. Her studies ended in 1883, when her family moved to the Dutch East Indies. Describing the end of her musical career as a “great cover-up” in letters to Clara Schumann, Cornelie asked for advice about the future, and was encouraged to pursue a career as a concert pianist. Returning to the Netherlands upon the death of her mother in 1888, Cornélie resumed her classes with Nicolaï but left soon after for Berlin upon the advice of her friends Julius Rontgen and Johannes Masschaert. After 2 years in Berlin, she moved to Stuttgart to study with composers Samuel de Lange and Robert Radecke. Soon she returned to Berlin upon her acceptance into Heinri