Maria Wilhelmine of Thun und Hohenstein

Maria Wilhelmine von Thun und Hohenstein, born Uhlfeldt (Vienna 13 June 1744 – Vienna 18 May 1800) was a Viennese countess. She is remembered as the sponsor of a musically and intellectually outstanding salon and for her patronage of music, notably that of Mozart and Beethoven. Early life Maria Wilhelmina Ulfeldt was the daughter of Imperial Count Anton Corfiz Ulfeldt (also spelled Uhlfeldt; 1699–1770), who "held several high political and court appointments" and his second wife, Princess Maria Elisabeth von Lobkowitz (1726–1786). Biography In the 1750s, the young Countess Uhlfeld studied keyboard with imperial court organist Wenzel Raimund Birck (1718–1763), a respected teacher and composer. A manuscript book of simple keyboard pieces and exercises that he prepared for her survives. Whether, as has been suggested, she also studied with Joseph Haydn, is difficult to determine, since the source indicating this only gives the title "Countess Thun;" this name was also held by other women over time. The Countess evidently became a very skilled musician. The visiting English musicologist Charles Burney praised her harpsichord playing in print, saying that she "possesses as great skill in music as any person of distinction [i.e., aristocrat] I ever knew." The salon that developed in her home is described by Clive as "a focal point of the musical and social life of the Viennese aristocracy."