A special day of events honouring Dame Myra Hess – who initiated, directed and performed in a series of legendary concerts at the National Gallery in London during the Second World War – will take place on 6 October.
The concerts provided a cultural oasis for the thousands who remained in London during the war years. This year the National Gallery celebrates the 70th anniversary of the concerts, which began soon after war was declared.
Lunchtime and evening concerts will take place in the National Gallery’s Barry Rooms (Room 36), the location at which the original wartime concerts were held.
Supported by The Ernest Hecht Charitable Foundation, this will be the fourth annual Myra Hess Day that has taken place at the National Gallery. This year, award-winning British actress Patricia Routledge (‘Keeping Up Appearances’, ‘Hetty Wainthropp Investigates’) and international concert pianist Piers Lane tell the extraordinary story of Myra Hess and the wartime National Gallery concerts.
Patricia Routledge will perform a monologue of Dame Myra’s own words – taken from letters, books and interviews – accompanied by piano music associated with her. Music will include works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Chopin and the theme by Bach made famous by Myra Hess: ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’.
For 2009 a special emphasis will be placed on the celebration of young musicians – a theme very close to Myra Hess’s heart. Throughout her career, Dame Myra showed an outstanding commitment to the training of young musicians, and she was even known to assist students by refusing fees and offering her time free in order to help them develop their talent.
The lunchtime concert will be performed by the Yehudi Menuhin School Orchestra and pianists Min Young Bae and Danny Driver. They will play works by Purcell, Mozart and Howard Ferguson – Dame Myra Hess’s tireless adviser throughout the Second World War.
The evening concert will be performed by a number of the most outstanding winners of the Dame Myra Hess Award, which has been presented by the Musicians Benevolent Fund since 1968. This concert will include a performance by Martin Jones, the first recipient of the Myra Hess Award. Today the award is made to outstanding pianists studying at postgraduate level, continuing Dame Myra’s legacy.
The National Gallery remained a vital part of London life despite being hit nine times by enemy bombs during the Blitz. Although the Old Master paintings were not on show – temporarily relocated to a secret location in Wales – Londoners were drawn to the Hess concerts . Dame Myra organised daily concerts at the Gallery for six and a half years, from 10 October 1939 until 10 April 1946. By the time the final performance came to a close, 1,698 concerts had been attended by a total of 824,152 people and more than £16,000 had been given to the Musicians Benevolent Fund.
For Myra Hess these concerts offered a wonderful opportunity ‘to give spiritual solace to those who are giving all to combat the evil’.
Kenneth Clark, Director of the National Gallery during the Second World War, described the people who attended the concerts thus:
‘All sorts. Young and old, smart and shabby, Tommies in uniform with their tin hats strapped on, old ladies with ear trumpets, musical students, civil servants, office boys, busy public men; all sorts had come.’
Image: Lower Hall, espresso bar and ArtStart multimedia touchscreens. Photo: Philip Sayer. ©The National Gallery London
