Sidney Harrison
{{Short description|British pianist (1903–1986)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Sidney Harrison (4 May 1903 – 8 January 1986) was a British pianist, composer, broadcaster and educationalist who taught at the Guildhall School of Music for many years.Musical Times obituary, March 1986, p. 162 His students included Norma Fisher and John Lill, and one of his protégés was George Martin.
Early life
The son of a tailor, Harrison grew up in Hammersmith, London, England, and began playing the piano at the age of four. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under Francesco Berger and Orlando MorganHarrison, Sidney. Teacher Never Told Me (1961) and was subsequently a professor of piano there, from 1927 until 1965.
Career
Harrison made his first public appearances in the 1920s as a solo pianist, in chamber ensembles and as a concerto performer,[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/c218f9c00b6c4e80beb12ff667ede968 Radio Times, Issue 138, 23 May 1926, p. 15] travelling across the UK, Scandinavia, the Low Countries and France. This continued over the next few decades, including frequent BBC broadcasts.[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/dccfa071ee524057b01dc786533fd6f0 Radio Times, Issue 869, 1 June 1940, p. 40]
From the 1940s Harrison's broadcasting work expanded into schools programming, music appreciation and as the presenter of gramophone records, continuing until the late 1970s. In 1950 Harrison gave what has been claimed to be the first televised piano lesson. The first of six weekly lessons was broadcast by BBC Television as Piano Lesson No 1 on 10 January 1950.[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/be362bb1c08c413f8f5d7ce2aa21651d Radio Times, Issue 1369, 8 January 1950, pp. 40, 42] The series continued in November the same year as How to Play the Piano. Harrison was also an occasional composer: published works include a suite The Voyage: five pieces for piano solo (OUP 1949),[https://books.google.com/books?id=XcAJAQAAMAAJ&q=%22The+Voyage%22+%22Sidney+Harrison%22 Monthly Musical Record, vol 78-79 (1948) p. 245] and the Fantasia on 'Brother James's Air' (OUP 1952).[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwfi-wkLwhg 'Fantasia on 'Brother James's Air' performed by Philip Sear]
In 1956 George Martin (who had been encouraged to audition for the Guildhall School by Harrison) recorded some lessons and performances of Debussy and Chopin on a Parlophone extended play record called Sidney Harrison Shows You How.Womack, Kenneth. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6nGDgAAQBAJ&dq=%22George+Martin%22+%22sidney+Harrison%22&pg=PT73 Maximum Volume: The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin] (2017) This was followed in 1957 with a BBC TV miniseries Teacher Didn't Tell Me.{{cite web |title=Programme Index |url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/service_bbc_television_service/1957-10-07#at-22.45 |publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=10 July 2023 |date=6 October 1957}} During the 1960s and 1970s Harrison was a frequent broadcaster, and occasional guest on the BBC television musical quiz show Face the Music.[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbctwo/england/1974-07-15 Face the Music, BBC Two, 15 July 1974. Genome listing]
After 1965 Harrison continued teaching piano at the Royal Academy of Music and adjudicating at competitions. He was chairman of the European Piano Teachers' Association and also the editor of its quarterly Piano Journal. He continued performing at recitals until the end of his life. His dozen books included Music for the Multitude (1939), The Enjoyment of Music (1953), Piano Technique (1953), the autobiographical Teacher Never Told Me (1961) and Grand Piano (1977).The Times obituary, 14 January 1986, p. 16.
Personal life
During the 1960s he was living by the River Thames at 57 Hartington Road in Chiswick,Musical Times No. 1426, December 1961, p. 749 (front matter) and later at 37 The Avenue, Chiswick.[https://books.google.com/books?id=Hi-xCwAAQBAJ&dq=%22The+Young+Person%E2%80%99s+Guide+to+Playing+the+Piano%E2%80%9D+%22Harrison%22&pg=PA534 Writers Directory, 1980–1982, p. 534]
References
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Category:20th-century British classical pianists
Category:20th-century British male musicians
Category:Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Category:Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Category:BBC television presenters
Category:British classical composers
Category:British classical pianists
Category:British male classical pianists