Jessica Duchen
Myra Hess: National Treasure
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Summary
During World War II, Dame Myra Hess (1890-1965), Britain’s greatest concert pianist, founded a series of lunchtime concerts in the National Gallery that took place every weekday without fail for six and a half years, even while London was under bombardment in the Blitz. They became a powerful symbol, weaponising the love of music into an act of national resilience and immeasurably bolstering the morale of Londoners in wartime. In this special lecture for the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Jessica Duchen, author of a new biography of Myra Hess, tells the story of the Gallery concerts and looks at how Hess grew to be the indomitable figure that ran them, an artist whose stature continued to grow for the rest of her life.
Jessica Duchen
Jessica is a music critic, author and librettist. She contributes to The Sunday Times, the i news and BBC Music Magazine and her operatic work includes Silver Birch and Dalia with Roxanna Panufnik for Garsington Opera. She has written biographies of Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Gabriel Fauré and seven novels on music-related topics. Her narrated concerts have been performed at Wigmore Hall, Kings Place and numerous festivals. Her next book is a biography of Dame Myra Hess, due for publication in spring 2025. Jessica read music at Cambridge and lives in London with her violinist husband.