Myra Hess
Dame Myra Hess was one of the best-known and most beloved of British pianists. She was a pupil of Julian Pascal and Orlando Morgan. At 12 she earned a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music and became a pupil of Tobias Matthay, whom she viewed as her primary teacher.
She debuted at the age of 17 in Beethoven's Fourth Concerto, with Thomas Beecham conducting. In a departure for pianists of her era she took a special interest in chamber music, including participating in a piano duo with her cousin Irene Scharrer. She toured Europe and the United States.
She was a warm person and well liked, particularly in English-speaking countries, and visited America frequently. Her reputation was particularly enhanced by her innovative and deeply appreciated venture during World War II, the National Gallery Concerts. Wartime blackouts closed the concert halls of London. In the meantime, the National Gallery in London had been emptied of its art treasures, which were sent to parts of the country less vulnerable to German bombing. It was Hess's idea to open the Gallery to the public for concerts every day during the lunch hours.
Londoners flocked to these informal concerts. Hess arranged concerts from solo recitals to full-scale orchestral and choral music. She personally appeared more than any other artist (never asking for a fee), and got some of the finest musicians of the country to appear there. She received her knighthood as a Dame of the British Empire for this service in 1942. The effort was seen as a major boost to morale, and it is said that when the artworks were returned to the Gallery in 1946, ending the musical series, that there was considerable disappointment.
In common with many artists she adopted a wide-ranging repertory, including much music of her time, when she was younger, but focused increasingly on the great classic masters in later years. Her playing was noted for both warmth and thoughtfulness. She made numerous transcriptions, of which one in particular, Bach's chorale prelude Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring from Cantata 147, has become an international favorite.
© TiVo
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The Complete Solo & Concerto Studio Recordings (Recorded 1928-1957)
Classical - Released by APR on Feb 1, 2013
5 de Diapason16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9 - Brahms: Piano Quintet in F Minor, Op. 34 (Historic Broadcast Recordings)
Myra Hess, Griller String Quartet
Classical - Released by APR on Mar 1, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Pianists of the 20th Century Vol.45 - Myra Hess
Myra Hess, Philharmonia Orchestra, Rudolf Schwarz
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
Classical - Released by Centaur Records, Inc. on Sep 6, 2019
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Beethoven: Sonatas No. 30 in E Major, Op. 109 & No. 31 in A-Flat Major, Op. 110
Classical - Released by The state51 Conspiracy on Apr 3, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Myra Hess Performs Original Piano Works
Classical - Released by Torill Music on Aug 30, 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann, Bach & Others: Piano Works
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Jun 19, 2017
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Beethoven: Piano Sonata Nos. 30 and 31
Classical - Released by Past Classics on Sep 19, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Live Recordings from the University of Illinois (Recorded 1949)
Myra Hess, University of Illinois Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, John M. Kuypers, Victor Kolar
Classical - Released by APR on Apr 28, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 14 / Brahms: Piano Concerto No. 2 (Hess, Walter) (1951, 1954) (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Johannes Brahms)
Classical - Released by IDIS on Jan 1, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
J.S. Bach, Scarlatti & Others: Piano Works
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Sep 1, 1994
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Isaac Stern, Vol. 10 (Live)
Isaac Stern, Ernest Ansermet, Sir John Pritchard, Myra Hess, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by DOREMI on Nov 5, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Symphony No. 3 - No. 4, Piano Concerto No. 2
Erica Morini, Myra Hess, Bruno Walter, New York Philharmonic
Symphonic Music - Released by Infinity on Jun 30, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Schubert & Brahms: Violin Sonatas
Joseph Szigeti, Mieczysław Horszowski, Myra Hess
Chamber Music - Released by Biddulph Recordings on Nov 11, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Women of Piano. Great Female Pianists of the Golden Age, Vol. 4
Myra Hess, Elly Ney, Peter Phillips
Classical - Released by Novus Promusica on Nov 15, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms & Reger : Cello Sonata No. 3 - Arpeggione Sonata - Cello Sonata No. 1 - Suite for Unaccompanied Cello
Myra Hess, Emanuel Feuermann, Gerald Moore, Theo van der Pas
Classical - Released by Infinity on Jul 15, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Schubert & Johannes Brahms
Myra Hess, Jelly D'arányi, Felix Salmond, Hollywood String Quartet, Victor Aller
Classical - Released by Altair on Aug 8, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Éclats. Piano Music from the Golden-Age
Classical - Released by Novus Promusica on Feb 2, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms & Reger
Emanuel Feuermann, Myra Hess, Gerald Moore, Theo van der Pas
Classical - Released by Altair on Aug 9, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann, Ferguson & Others: Piano Works
Classical - Released by Biddulph Recordings on May 15, 1994
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms (Live)
Myra Hess, New York Philharmonic, Erica Morini
Symphonic Music - Released by Altair on May 29, 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo