__NOTOC__ Mabel Lander (1882 – 19 May 1955) was British pianist and teacher, mostly remembered today as piano tutor to the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

in the 1930s and 1940s, though her real legacy comes from her teaching several generations of prominent pianists, composers and musicians.Obituary, 'Miss Mabel Lander', ''The Times'', 21 May 1955, p 10

Early career

Lander began her musical studies at the

Berlin Hochschule Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituen ...

in 1898 at the age of 17. She spent four years there, playing in concerts with the violin pupils of

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of ...

. Becoming disillusioned with the teaching she moved to Vienna and studied with

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 ...

, who himself had been a pupil of

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and ...

. After several years in Vienna she moved to Dublin, where she established herself as a concert pianist and teacher. However, her career as a public performer was cut short (around 1917) when she developed a rheumatic complaint in her hands, which left her unable to satisfy her own high standards.

London

During the war, Lander met another Leschetizky pupil (and disciple of the Leschetizky method), the Russian-born British pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch. She took some further lessons from him and he persuaded her to move to London and teach there, effectively working as his assistant.Foreman, Lewis. ''The John Ireland Companion'' (2011), p 68
/ref> They had intended to establish a piano school together, but the plans were abandoned due to Moiseiwitsch's increasingly heavy international concert schedule. Her private pupils included (in oldest to youngest order)

Malcolm Sargent Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent (29 April 1895 – 3 October 1967) was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated include ...

(who lodged with her for many years),

Alan Bush Alan Dudley Bush (22 December 1900 – 31 October 1995) was a British composer, pianist, conductor, teacher and political activist. A committed communist, his uncompromising political beliefs were often reflected in his music. He composed pro ...

, William Busch, David Ellenberg (conductor at the Unity Theatre),

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 Scho ...

, Roger Sacheverell Coke, John Kuchmy and James Gibb. Alan Bush remembered her as "an absolutely systematic and devastating teacher of the piano hotaught me the Leschetizky method systematically". From 1946 she was associated with the Surrey College of Music.

Royal tutor

However, by far her most famous pupils (if perhaps less distinguished pianistically) were the Princesses

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and

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

. Elizabeth began lessons aged eight in 1934 and Margaret aged seven in 1937. The lessons, which were held at 145 Piccadilly, continued into the mid 1940s. Another of her royal pupils was the exiled Prince George Chavchavadze of Russia. Bedells, Phyllis. ''My Dancing Days'' (1954)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lander, Mabel 1882 births 1955 deaths 20th-century pianists English classical pianists Women classical pianists Pupils of Theodor Leschetizky