Marguerite Wolff

Marguerite Agnes Rachel Wolff OBE (17 February 1919 – 25 May 2011) was a British pianist.

For the British legal scholar, see Marguerite Wolff (lawyer).

Marguerite Wolff in 1967.

Marguerite Wolff was born in the West Ham area of London on 17 February 1919, the daughter of Walter and Selina (known as Nina) Wolff; her parents were also musical.[1][2][3] She studied under Gertrude Azulay and later Solomon Cutner and Louis Kentner.[4]

Her orchestral debut was made when she was just 15, under Sir John Barbirolli.[4] During World War II, she performed more than 1,000 concerts for troops around the UK, under the auspices of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA).[1][5][6] She was made music professor at Trinity College of Music when only 21.[7]

She gave up her career for marriage and to raise a family (of two daughters) but resumed public performances after being widowed while only 35, in 1964.[4] She subsequently made the premiere recording of Arthur Bliss's Piano Sonata, under the composer's supervision.[4] While touring the US in 1974, she gave the world premiere of his Wedding Suite.[5] Malcolm Williamson's Fourth Piano Concerto was written for her, in 1994.[4]

She was made an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College of Music in 1999[5] and appeared as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 15 November 2002,[1] and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) the same year.[4] She was a member of West London Synagogue.[7]

Wolff died on 25 May 2011 aged 92.[4] She had never remarried.[4]

Biography
  • Clarson-Leach, Robert (1985). Marguerite Wolff: Adventures of a Concert Pianist.

References
  1. "Desert Island Discs – Castaway: Marguerite Wolff". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  2. General Register Office index of births registered in January, February and March, 1919 – Name: Wolff, Marguerite A R. Mother's Maiden Name: Abrahams District: West Ham Volume: 4A Page: 545.
  3. Marguerite Wolff: Pianist acclaimed for her interpretations of Chopin and Liszt, Independent.co.uk
  4. "Marguerite Wolff". The Daily Telegraph. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  5. Wingate, Jonathan (29 June 2011). "Marguerite Wolff: Pianist acclaimed for her interpretations of Chopin and Liszt". The Independent. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  6. Macleod-Miller, Peter (23 June 2011). "Marguerite Wolff obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  7. Lipman, Jennifer (27 May 2011). "Concert pianist Marguerite Wolff mourned". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
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