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Gerald Moore

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Gerald Moore was an English pianist who was known above all as an accompanist to famous musicians. He was born on 30 July 1899 in Watford and died on 13 March 1987. He worked with, among others, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Kathleen Ferrier, Elisabeth Schumann, Hans Hotter, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Victoria de los Ángeles and Pablo Casals. He also gave talks about music on stage, on the radio and on television, and wrote memoirs and practical guides to the performance of Lieder.

Music and breakthrough

Moore was an unwilling piano pupil, who said himself that his mother had to drag him to the piano. When he was thirteen the family emigrated to Toronto, where he studied with Michael Hambourg. After the latter's death in 1915, Hambourg's son Boris Hambourg took him along as accompanist on a tour of Canada. In Toronto he worked as an organist and as a cinema organist for silent films. His parents sent him back to England, where he had lessons from Mark Hambourg. There he earned his living as an accompanist, and Landon Ronald of the Guildhall School advised him to choose that profession. In 1921 he made his first recording, with the violinist Renée Chemet.

Influence

Moore preferred singers to instrumentalists and in the early 1920s often recorded with Peter Dawson. Later he became an established name in the song repertoire. His albums include Winterreise from 1955 and 1968, Goethe-Lieder 1 from 1960 and Spanisches Liederbuch from 1967. He showed that an accompanist is an equal partner of the singer.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to a recording of Schubert's Winterreise with Gerald Moore at the piano and notice how the piano follows the singer. Try to hear where the piano itself tells something, without the voice.

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists