Irene Scharrer (2 February 188811 January 1971) was an English classical pianist.

Early life and education

Irene Scharrer was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, the daughter of Herbert Tobias Scharrer and Ida Henrietta Samuel Scharrer. She studied at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

with

Tobias Matthay Tobias Augustus Matthay (19 February 185815 December 1945) was an English pianist, teacher, and composer. Biography Matthay was born in Clapham, Surrey, in 1858 to parents who had come from northern Germany and eventually became naturalised Brit ...

. Scharrer was a descendant of

Moses Samuel Moses Samuel was a British clockmaker, translator of Hebrew works, and writer. Life His parents were Emanuel Menachem Samuel and Hanna Hinde; his father moved from Kempen in Silesia (now Kępno, Poland) to London. Moses with his mother moved to ...

, she being his great-granddaughter. The pianist

Harriet Cohen Harriet Pearl Alice Cohen CBE (2 December 189513 November 1967) was a British pianist. Biography Harriet Cohen was born in London. Her younger sister was the singer Myra Verney (1905-1993) and she was a distant cousin of the pianist Irene Scha ...

was the great-great-granddaughter of Samuel, thus making the two pianists related. Irene’s mother, Ida, was a friend of Lizzie Hess, the mother of

Myra Hess Dame Julia Myra Hess, (25 February 1890 – 25 November 1965) was an English pianist best known for her performances of the works of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schumann, and Brahms. Career Early life Julia Myra Hess was born on 25 February 189 ...

, and both daughters attended St Leonard’s School for Girls. The Scharrers and Hesses were not related and Irene and Myra were not cousins, as many people believed. They both studied at the Royal Academy of Music where they were quite inseparable. The composer Bax describing them as, ‘two very small and eternally giggling girls’.

Career

Scharrer made her London début at the age of 16, and gave concerts regularly until June 1958, where she appeared for the last time, playing Mozart's Sonata for Two Pianos with Myra Hess. They often performed four-handed compositions together. "Her playing is virile, yet withal delicate and poetic," explained a 1912 reviewer, "a lovely touch and poetic style combined with warmth of tone, but pervading all delicacy and refinement." She was especially known for playing the works of Chopin. Other collaborators included

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungary, Hungarian conducting, conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter ...

in Berlin, Hungarian violinist Louis Pecskai, and

Landon Ronald Sir Landon Ronald (born Landon Ronald Russell) (7 June 1873 – 14 August 1938) was an English conductor, composer, pianist, teacher and administrator. In his early career he gained work as an accompanist and ''répétiteur'', but struggle ...

in London. She visited Sir

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

in 1918 and was promised the first performance of his piano concerto, then being sketched. Scharrer gave her first American concerts in 1926, in Boston and New York. She gave a radio concert in 1929.

Recordings

A selection of reissues is commercially available. From as early as 1909 she recorded for

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

, then between 1929 and the mid-1930s for Columbia. Recorded repertoire included: *

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

Prelude and Fugue (His Master's Voice D576) * Chopin Prelude in F-sharp minor; Waltz in E minor (His Master's Voice E255); Fantaisie-Impromptu; Impromptu in A-flat (His Master's Voice D1087); Study in G-flat (His Master's Voice D1303); Study in F minor Op. 25 No. 2 * Saint-Saëns Allegro Scherzando from Piano Concerto in G (His Master's Voice D81) *

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

Intermezzo in E-flat (His Master's Voice D87) *

Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

Rondo Capricioso (His Master's Voice D87); The Bees' Wedding (His Master's Voice D1303) * Sinding Rustle of Spring (His Master's Voice D1303) *

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

'' Poissons d'or''; ''

Reflets dans l'eau Claude Debussy's ''Reflets dans l'eau'' ("Reflections in the Water") is the first of three piano pieces from his first volume of '' Images'', which are frequently performed separately. It was written in 1905. As with much of Debussy's work, it i ...

'' (His Master's Voice D914); Arabesque No. 2 (His Master's Voice D576) * Chopin Scherz No.2 in B Flat Minor, Op. 31 (Columbia D.X. 433) * Chopin Fantaisie Impromptu / Impromptu in A Flat (His Master's Voice D1087) *

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

Rhapsody (His Master's Voice 05526)

Personal life

Scharrer married Samuel Gurney Lubbock, who was a housemaster at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

. They had two children, both actors, Ian Lubbock and

Rachel Gurney Rachel Gurney (5 March 1920 – 24 November 2001) was an English actress. She began her career in the theatre towards the end of World War II and then expanded into television and film in the 1950s. She remained active, mostly in television a ...

. She died January 11, 1971, at the age of 82.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Scharrer, Irene 1888 births 1971 deaths Classical piano duos Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Pupils of Tobias Matthay Jewish classical pianists 20th-century English classical pianists British women classical pianists 20th-century English women pianists