James Gibb (7 March, 1918 - 16 June, 2013) was an English pianist and teacher. He performed regularly as a solo recitalist, concerto pianist and chamber music player for over four decades, and appeared in many radio broadcasts.Stephen Plaistow. Obituary, in ''The Guardian'', 17 July, 2013
/ref> Born in

Monkseaton Monkseaton is an area of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, in the North East of England. Historically in Northumberland, it is in the north-east of the borough, from the North Sea coast and north of the River Tyne at North Shields. to the north of ...

, Tyneside, he went to school in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, receiving his first piano lessons from George Ramsay Geikie.Obituary, ''The Herald'', 10 July 2013
/ref> He later studied piano with

Mabel Lander __NOTOC__ Mabel Lander (1882 – 19 May 1955) was British pianist and teacher, mostly remembered today as piano tutor to the Royal Family in the 1930s and 1940s, though her real legacy comes from her teaching several generations of prominent p ...

, herself a pupil of

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, pl, Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian-Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land of ...

. In London before the war he became associated with the socialist community attached to the Unity Theatre in King's Cross, including the actor Alfie Bass, poet

Randall Swingler Randall Carline Swingler MM (28 May 1909 – 19 June 1967) was an English poet, writing extensively in the 1930s in the communist interest. Early life and education His was a prosperous upper middle class Anglican family in Aldershot, with an ...

and piano duo

Mary and Geraldine Peppin Mary and Geraldine Peppin (born 30 December 1912) were identical twin sisters, and performers in a classical piano duo active in the UK from the 1930s until the 1960s. Later in life they both became influential piano teachers at the Guildhall Schoo ...

. He marched against

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

's Fascists in 1938. Friendships were formed with composers including Constant Lambert,

Alan Rawsthorne Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex. Early years Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to Hu ...

and

Bernard Stevens Bernard (George) Stevens (2 March 1916 – 6 January 1983) was a British composer. Life Born in London, Stevens studied English and Music at St John's College, Cambridge with E. J. Dent and Cyril Rootham, then at the Royal College of Music ...

, whose music he later performed. During the war Gibb served as a radio operator with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, latterly based in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and performed concerts for the troops. Gibb made his debut at the

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

in 1949 (playing Dohnányi's ''Variations on a Nursery Song'') and became a regular performer at the festival over the next decade. In 1949 he also made his international debut, playing Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto in Hamburg with the North-West German Radio Orchestra. Gibb championed the works of British composers, but Scarlatti, Haydn,

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

and Schubert were also an important part of his repertoire. In 1951 Gibb was one of the two pianists that accompanied the UK premiere of

Marc Blitzstein Marcus Samuel Blitzstein (March 2, 1905January 22, 1964), was an American composer, lyricist, and librettist. He won national attention in 1937 when his pro-union musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', directed by Orson Welles, was shut down by the Wo ...

's musical ''

The Cradle Will Rock ''The Cradle Will Rock'' is a 1937 play in music by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman. A Brechtian allegory of corruption and corporate greed, it ...

'' at the Unity Theatre.Obituary, ''The Times'', 6 July 2013 He also gave the British premiere of Balakirev's Second Piano Concerto. He began teaching at the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz ...

from the 1960s, becoming head of keyboard studies there in 1967 and sometimes performing piano four hands with his colleague

Edith Vogel Edith Vogel (5 April 1912 in Czernowitz – 12 June 1992 in London) was an Austro-Hungarian-born classical pianist active in the UK. After she got as far as she could with her first teacher, Vogel took lessons from Wally Loew, first assistant ...

. His pupils included

Andreas Boyde Andreas Boyde (born 13 November 1967) is a German pianist. Biography Boyde was born in Oschatz, Bezirk Leipzig. He has appeared in recital as well as soloist with orchestras such as the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Sächsische Staatska ...

Alissa Firsova Alissa Firsova (Russian language, Russian: Алиса Фирсова; 24 July 1986) is a Russian-British classical music, classical composer, pianist and Conducting, conductor. Born in Moscow to the composers Elena Firsova and Dmitri Smirnov (c ...

, Ivana Gavrić, John Tilbury and Debbie Wiseman. He retired in 2002. Gibb lived in a flat at 10,

Regent's Park Road Regent's Park Road is a street in the Primrose Hill area of London, England. Located in the London Borough of Camden, it runs in a curving crescent shape. For some of its route it follows alongside the eastern edge of Primrose Hill park and als ...

, NW1 from 1956 until his death in 2013, aged 95.''Who's Who in Music'', Fifth Edition (1969) He suffered from dementia in his final years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibb, James 1918 births 2013 deaths People from Whitley Bay 20th-century British pianists English classical pianists 20th-century British musicians