Arthur Hedley (12 November 19058 November 1969) was a British musicologist, scholar and biographer of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

- French composer

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

. Arthur Hedley was educated at

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

and at the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, and he devoted much of his life to the study of the composer Frédéric Chopin and his music. 1947 saw the publication of Hedley's biography of Chopin, as part of The Master Musicians series. Having lived in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

for several years, Hedley learned Polish and was able to translate and edit many of Chopin's letters, which had been collected and annotated by Bronisław Edward Sydow, and which were published in 1962 as ''Selected Correspondence of Fryderyk Chopin''. Hedley was vice-president of the International Chopin Competition in 1949, the centenary of Chopin’s death, and received the Commander’s Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

. He processed a considerable collection of Chopiniana, and died at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

on 8 November 1969, aged 63,Obituary for Arthur Hedley, ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 111, No. 1523 (Jan. 1970), p. 81. and is buried in Lodge Hill Cemetery.

References

1905 births 1969 deaths University of Paris alumni English musicologists 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century composers 20th-century British musicians 20th-century British musicologists Chopin scholars British expatriates in France {{classical-pianist-stub