Hirsch "Harry" Blech (June 1909 – 9 May 1999) was a British violinist and conductor. He founded the

London Mozart Players London Mozart Players (LMP) are a British chamber orchestra founded in 1949. LMP are the longest-established chamber orchestra in the United Kingdom. Since 1989, the orchestra has been Resident Orchestra at Fairfield Halls, Croydon. History B ...

in 1949, and was known also as a conductor of studio recordings for

HMV Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

and

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

Life

Harry Blech was born in London, to Henri Blech and his wife, Sophie Stock, in June 1909. His birth was not registered until the following year, and to avoid a fine for late registration his father pretended Harry was born on 2 March 1910, which date has entered many reference works. He was a scholarship boy at the

Trinity College of Music Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance is a music and dance conservatoire based in London, England. It was formed in 2005 as a merger of two older institutions – Trinity College of Music and Laban Dance Centre. The conservatoire has ...

, London, where he studied violin under Sarah Fennings. On her advice he took lessons in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

from

Otakar Ševčík Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a Czech violinist and influential teacher. He was known as a soloist and an ensemble player, including his occasional performances with Eugène Ysaÿe. Biography Ševčík was born in Horaž ...

. At age 18 he moved to become a pupil of

Arthur Catterall Arthur Catterall (25 May 1883 – 28 November 1943) was an English concert violinist, orchestral leader and conductor, one of the best-known English classical violinists of the first half of the twentieth century. photo of Wills's cigarette card ...

at the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

, and in 1929 joined the Hallé Orchestra. During the 1930s Blech played in the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

. In 1936 he left to become the leader of his own eponymous string quartet, with Edward Silverman, Douglas Thompson and

William Pleeth William Pleeth OBE (12 January 1916 – 6 April 1999) was a well-known British cellist and an eminent teacher, who became widely known as the teacher of Jacqueline du Pré. Biography Early years William Pleeth was born in London. His p ...

. During the war, Silverman died of a heart condition, Thomson was killed while learning to fly and Pleeth joined the army, so new string players were brought in. Blech became a conductor in 1942 under wartime conditions, and formed the London Wind Players from the RAF Symphony Orchestra. After the war he formed the London Symphonic Players; the Blech String Quartet disbanded in 1950, when Blech found difficulty in playing the violin. After conducting Mozart concertos in 1948 for the pianist

Dorothea Braus Dorothea (also spelled Dorothée, Dorotea or other variants) is a female given name from Greek (Dōrothéa) meaning "God's Gift". It may refer to: People * Dorothea Binz (1920–1947), German concentration camp officer executed for war cri ...

, Blech formed the London Mozart Players, which he conducted until 1984, when he was succeeded by

Jane Glover Dame Jane Alison Glover (born 13 May 1949) is a British-born conductor and musicologist. Early life Born at Helmsley, Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover, MA ( TCD), was headmaster of M ...

. He was twice married, having children with both wives, and died in

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

on 9 May 1999.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blech, Harry 1909 births 1999 deaths British violinists 20th-century British conductors (music) British male conductors (music)