Marjorie Hesse
{{Short description|Australian pianist and composer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Marjorie Hesse
| honorific_suffix = MBE DSCM B.A. LRSM LMusA
| image = File:Marjorie_Hesse_in_1935.png
| caption = Marjorie Hesse in 1935. Photo by H. Noel Maitland
| birth_date = 13 November 1911
| birth_place = Brisbane
| death_date = 1986
| nationality = Australian
| education = B.A.
| alma_mater = {{hlist| NSW State Conservatorium of Music |University of Sydney}}
| occupation = {{hlist|Pianist|Lecturer|Composer}}
| spouse = Tibor Kereny
| honours = MBE
}}
Marjorie Anne Hesse, {{post-nominals|list=MBE, DSCM, B.A., LRSM, LMusA}} was an Australian pianist, lecturer, examiner, and composer.
Early life and education
Hesse was born in Brisbane on 13 November 1911. She began piano lessons in Ipswich, Queensland and was recognised as a child prodigy.{{Cite web|date=6 July 2020|title=Reverie: Piano Music by Australian Women|url=https://www.abc.net.au/classic/featured-music/feature-albums/reverie-piano-music-by-australian-women/12411100|access-date=23 May 2021|website=ABC Classic}}{{Cite web|title=Marjorie Hesse|url=https://www.australiancomposers.com.au/pages/marjorie-hesse|access-date=23 May 2021|website=Australiancomposers.com.au}} She attended the Brisbane State High School.{{Cite news|date=4 February 1935|title=Past pupil honoured|work=The Telegraph|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/182790439?searchTerm=marjorie%20hesse|access-date=23 May 2021}}
When she was 15, Hesse moved to Sydney with her family. Her mother ran a boarding house in Darlinghurst where Hesse also worked and often performed in the evenings. In 1927, Hesse won the National Prize for Piano and Harmony from Trinity College London as the best candidate in the British Commonwealth. She joined the NSW State Conservatorium of Music in 1928 where she studied piano with Frank Hutchens, composition with Alfred Hill and Mirrie Hill, and attained diplomas (DSCM) in teaching and performance in 1931.{{Cite web|title=Marjorie Hesse (1911-1986) : Represented Artist|url=https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/hesse-marjorie|access-date=23 May 2021|website=Australian Music Centre}} In her second year at the Conservatorium she achieved the £50 Grade 1 scholarship for the highest marks in the State.{{Cite news|date=25 January 1935|title=Visiting Pianist|work=The Telegraph|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187304829?searchTerm=marjorie%20hesse|access-date=23 May 2021}} Her first recital at the Conservatorium was in 1932 and featured one of her own compositions, All Suddenly the Wind Comes Soft, based on a poem by Rupert Brooke.
Hesse also achieved a piano scholarship from the AMEB in 1930 for outstanding performance.
Career
= Commonwealth tour =
In 1936, Hesse began a Commonwealth tour with contralto Alice Prowse and violinist Phyllis MacDonald under direction of the ABC.{{Cite magazine|date=30 November 1940|title=Marjorie Hesse|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1219672893/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1309270602&partId=nla.obj-1219744502#page/n20/mode/1up/search/marjorie+hesse|magazine=The ABC Weekly|publisher=ABC|page=21|access-date=23 May 2021}} The tour programmes were varied, consisting of British, Italian, French, Romantic, and Australian music. Hesse's own compositions (All Suddenly the Wind Comes Soft and The Piper) were also featured.{{Cite news|date=5 February 1937|title=Gifted trio|work=The Daily Examiner|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/194407967?searchTerm=marjorie%20hesse|access-date=23 May 2021}}
= Europe and America =
Hesse travelled to London shortly before World War II. She was invited by the Italian tenor Dino Borgioli to accompany his students, including Australian soprano Joan Hammond. Hesse was also assistant artist with Richard Tauber at the Royal Empire Society concerts.
In August 1939 Hesse had arrived in Germany but was one of the many people who hurriedly travelled to Paris ahead of the War. From Paris, she then returned to London where she was a student at the Royal College of Music, studying composition with Gordon Jacob. She also broadcast performances from the BBC. It was reported that she may have been the last performer to give a Dominions broadcast on the BBC before the outbreak of World War II, performing in a BBC bomb-proof basement and broadcasting to Canada only a few hours before the invasion of Poland.{{Cite magazine|date=19 October 1940|title=Australian Pianist's Experience In Bomb-proofed B.B.C.|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-715940701/view?sectionId=nla.obj-720721169&partId=nla.obj-715948061#page/n9/mode/1up/search/marjorie+hesse|magazine=Wireless Weekly|publisher=ABC|page=10|access-date=23 May 2021}}{{Cite magazine|date=24 July 1943|title=Marjorie Hesse in Rio Grande|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1240160504/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1315256935&partId=nla.obj-1240194012#page/n10/mode/1up/search/marjorie+hesse|magazine=ABC Weekly|volume=5|publisher=ABC|issue=30|page=11}}
Hesse and her mother travelled to New York on the RMS Aquitania - one of the first British passenger ships to leave England after the declaration of war.{{Cite news|date=10 August 1945|title=Pianist Excels At Cadenzas and Chocolate Cake|work=The Telegraph|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187492524?searchTerm=marjorie%20hesse|access-date=23 May 2021}} While in the US she taught, studied fugue-writing at the Juilliard School, and gave recitals of Australian music along with Alice Prowse.{{Cite magazine|date=13 September 1941|title=Australian Composer: Writer of Piano Music|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-716953671/view?sectionId=nla.obj-721610556&partId=nla.obj-716983782#page/n6/mode/1up/search/marjorie+hesse|magazine=Wireless Weekly|page=7|access-date=23 May 2021}} One of these recitals took place at the Rockefeller Center where Hesse performed works by herself, Alfred and Mirrie Hill, and Percy Grainger who also attended the concert. Hesse was forced to return to Australia in October 1940 after she could no longer receive funds.{{Cite magazine|date=28 December 1940|title=Wave-lengths|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1219672970/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1309835052&partId=nla.obj-1219778361#page/n46/mode/1up/search/marjorie+hesse|magazine=ABC Weekly|publisher=ABC|page=47|access-date=23 May 2021}}
In the 1950s, Hesse travelled to both Europe and Canada for a two-year tour where she gave recitals and studied music teaching methods.{{Cite news|last=Gardiner|first=Eunice|date=7 March 1954|title=Music of the week|work=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/248828259?searchTerm=marjorie%20hesse|access-date=23 May 2021}}
= Academia =
From 1936-1981, Hesse was a lecturer in Piano Studies and faculty member at NSW State Conservatorium of Music. When she joined, she was the youngest member of the professorial staff. She retired at the age of 70.{{Cite book|last=Adrian|first=Gaster|url=https://archive.org/details/internationalwho00gast/|title=International who's who in music and musicians' directory|publisher=Cambridge : International Who's Who in Music|year=1980|pages=318}}
Hesse achieved a B.A. in English and Anthropology at University of Sydney in December 1944.{{Cite news|date=18 June 1945|title=Day to day in Sydney|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/27937468?searchTerm=marjorie%20hesse|access-date=23 May 2021}}
= Composition and adjudication =
Hesse was appointed as an examiner for AMEB. She was also appointed adjudicator for the instrumentals section of the Launceston Eisteddfod in 1948.{{Cite news|date=20 December 1947|title=Instrumental Adjudicator for North|work=The Mercury|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/26441983?searchTerm=marjorie%20hesse|access-date=23 May 2021}}
Hesse was a prolific composer of pedagogical piano music with published books of Children's Suites, violin and piano solos, and songs.{{Cite web|last=Carrigan|first=Jeanell|date=8 February 2017|title=Composing against the tide: Early 20th-century Australian female composers and their piano music|url=https://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/article/composing-against-the-tide|access-date=23 May 2021|website=Australian Music Centre}}
Personal life
Hesse married Hungarian engineer Tibor Kereny in December 1944, three days after completing her BA.{{Cite magazine|date=31 March 1945|title=First airing of Gershwin Concerto|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1266779615/view?sectionId=nla.obj-1324915817&partId=nla.obj-1266873078#page/n37/mode/1up/search/marjorie+hesse|magazine=ABC Weekly|publisher=ABC|page=38|access-date=23 May 2021}} Outside of her music career she enjoyed photography and baking.
In 1975, Hesse was awarded an MBE for her services to music.[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1088147 Australian Honours]
Selected works
= Piano =
- Twilight (1937)
- The Piper (1939){{cite web |title=Hesse, Marjorie |url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n2010035049/ |website=WorldCat Identities |access-date=24 May 2021}}
- All Suddenly the Wind Comes Soft (1939)
- The ballerina (1961)
- Playtime (1961)
- When We Are Very Young (1936) (Book of piano composition for children){{cite web |last1=Hesse |first1=Marjorie |title=When we are very young: three easy pieces for pianoforte |url=https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2951419 |publisher=W.H. Paling & Co |access-date=24 May 2021 |date=1936}}
- Growing Up (Book of piano composition for children)
= Piano and violin =
= Songs =
Hesse's songs were often broadcast on radio, although some were unpublished works.
- O, Singer in Brown (Words by Mary Gilmore)
- In Early Green Summer (Words by Joan Mackaness)
References
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Category:Australian women composers
Category:Australian women musicians
Category:Musicians from Brisbane
Category:Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire