Harriet Cohen
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Harriet Cohen (December 2, 1895 – November 13, 1967) was a British pianist.
She was born in London and studied piano at the Royal Academy of Music under Tobias Matthay. She became particularly associated with contemporary British music, giving the world premiere of Ralph Vaughan Williams' Piano Concerto and recording Edward Elgar's Piano Quintet with the Stratton String Quartet under the composer's supervision. A number of composers wrote music specifically for her, particularly Sir Arnold Bax (Cohen's lover) who wrote most of his piano pieces for her. This includes the music for David Lean's 1948 film version of Oliver Twist. He also composed Concertino for Left Hand for her after she lost the use of her right hand in 1948.
The last six pieces in the collection Mikrokosmos (known as Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythms), by Béla Bartók, are dedicated to her.
Cohen was made a CBE in 1938. She died in London. The Harriet Cohen International Music Award was introduced in her honour in 1951.
In January 2006, Dearest Tania, a words-and-music programme telling the story of Cohen, premiered, written by Duncan Honeybourne and performed with actress Louisa Clein.[1]
[edit] Further reading
Cohen, Harriet A Bundle of Time (1969)
[edit] References
- ^ Mercia musicians (badly designed page but the information is there if you look hard enough)
[edit] External links
- National Portrait Gallery (78 portraits)
- Two Descendants of Moses Samuel (Genealogy site. This PDF contains much biographical information about Cohen.)
- Ken Wetherell's anecdote
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