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Leonard Hirsch FRMCM, FRCM, (19 December 1902 – 4 January 1995) was a British violinist, conductor and professor.


Biography

Hirsch was born in Dublin. His father, Maurice Hirschowitz, a draper, was from Friedrichstadt, Courland in the
Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 1917 (''de facto'' until 1915) in which permanent settlement by Jews was allowed and beyond which the creation of new Jewish settlem ...
, Russia. The family changed their name to Hirsch in 1902 when Leonard's father became a British subject. Hirsch attended The High School in Dublin and received early instrumental tuition from a local teacher. He moved to England at the age of 17 to study violin at the Royal Manchester College of Music (now the
Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...
) under Adolph Brodsky, with whom he studied for eight years. Not long after arriving in England, he joined the Hallé Orchestra (1921) under
Hamilton Harty Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty (4 December 1879 – 19 February 1941) was an Irish composer, conductor, pianist and organist. After an early career as a church organist in his native Ireland, Harty moved to London at about age 20, soon becoming a ...
and later became both leader of the second violins and soloist with the orchestra. Harty, who played piano, often joined the members of the Hirsch String Quartet which Hirsch founded in 1925. The players of the quartet were Hirsch (1st violin), Thomas Mathews (violin),
Maurice Ward Maurice Ward was a British inventor best known for his invention of Starlite, a thermal shielding material. He was a former hairdresser from Hartlepool, County Durham, England. Ward believed he should not sell his material directly or allow uns ...
(viola) and Haydn Rogerson (cello). Hirsch was later to contribute to a book on Harty published in 1978. From 1923 to 1924 Hirsch was both sub-principal and leader of the 2ZY orchestra, the forerunner of the BBC Philharmonic. Hirsch played with the Catterall Quartet from 1925 to 1926. Hirsch moved from Manchester to London in 1936, where he became leader and occasional conductor of the BBC Empire Orchestra from 1937 until its disbandment in 1939 at the outbreak of the second world war. During the war the Hirsch Quartet continued to perform, giving recitals on the radio, and Hirsch led the Sidney Beer Symphony Orchestra. In 1942 Hirsch played with the newly formed Harry Isaacs Trio, consisting of Isaacs on piano, Hirsch on violin and Norina Semino on cello. The Trio commissioned
York Bowen Edwin York Bowen (22 February 1884 – 23 November 1961) was an English composer and pianist. Bowen's musical career spanned more than fifty years during which time he wrote over 160 works. As well as being a pianist and composer, Bowen was a tal ...
to compose his ''Trio in E minor op. 118''. The first performance of the work was given by the trio at the
Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...
on 4 April 1946. Hirsch played with the R.A.F. Orchestra from 1941 until 1945, touring the US in 1945, and he was a member from 1940 to 1944 of the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts C.E.M.A. After the war Hirsch led the
Philharmonia The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, ...
orchestra, founded and conducted by
Walter Legge Harry Walter Legge (1 June 1906 – 22 March 1979) was an English classical music record producer, most especially associated with EMI. His recordings include many sets later regarded as classics and reissued by EMI as "Great Recordings of th ...
. Hirsch performed with the Philharmonia from 1945 until 1949. In 1948 he led the Philharmonia, conducted by
Muir Mathieson James Muir Mathieson, OBE (24 January 19112 August 1975) was a British musician whose career was spent mainly as the musical director for British film studios. Born in Scotland, to a musical family, Mathieson won a scholarship to the Royal Co ...
, in a recording of
Arnold Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral music ...
's 1948 soundtrack score for the film
Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...
. Hirsch led the original New London Orchestra from 1949 to 1955 and the Sinfonia of London from 1956. Hirsch also led his own chamber group, the Hirsch Chamber Players from 1961 until 1969. He coached the string section of the National Youth Orchestra from 1948 to 1966, working with Ruth Railton, who had founded it in 1947. He then conducted the newly formed BBC New Orchestra in 1966, which was later renamed the BBC Training Orchestra in 1968 when Hirsch resigned. It became the Academy of the BBC in 1974 and was wound up in 1977. From 1966 to 1969 Hirsch was the Chief Music Consultant for the county of Hertfordshire, and from 1962 until 1979 he was a professor at the
Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...
in London. Hirsch was made a fellow of the RCM in 1971 (FRCM).
Eric Fogg Charles William Eric Fogg (21 February 190319 December 1939) was an English composer, conductor and BBC broadcaster. His early works were influenced by Igor Stravinsky, though his later pieces owe more to Granville Bantock and Richard Strauss an ...
's Third String Quartet, which remains unpublished, was written in 1929 specially for Hirsch. It is dedicated to the Leonard Hirsch Quartet. Hirsch made a number of recordings, mainly with his quartet in the early 1950s, including, the Bartok String Quartet No. 1, the Bloch String Quartet No. 2 and Hugo Wolf's Italian Serenade.Gaster, p.324 Leonard Hirsch died in Bristol on 4 January 1995, not long after his 92nd birthday.


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* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Leonard 1902 births 1995 deaths British classical violinists 20th-century British violinists Academics of the Royal College of Music 20th-century British classical musicians People educated at The High School, Dublin British people of Russian descent Leaders of the Philharmonia Orchestra Musicians from Dublin (city)