Sidney Harrison (4 May 1903 – 8 January 1986) was a British pianist, composer, broadcaster and educationalist who taught 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 ...

for many years.''Musical Times'' obituary, March 1986, p 162 His students included

Norma Fisher Norma Fisher (born 1940) is an English concert pianist and professor of piano living in London. Illness shortened her performing career in the 1990s and she turned instead to teaching. Biography Norma Fisher was born in London of Russian-Polish ...

and

John Lill John Richard Lill (born 17 March 1944 in London) is a British classical pianist. Biography Lill studied at the Royal College of Music with Angus Morrison, and with Wilhelm Kempff. His talent emerged at an early age, he gave his first piano rec ...

, and one of his protégés was

Sir George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the Beat ...

. The son of a tailor, Harrison grew up in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London, England, and began playing the piano at the age of four. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music under

Francesco Berger Francesco Berger (10 June 1834 – 26 April 1933) was a pianist and composer. He was a teacher of the piano and a professor at the Royal Academy of Music but is mostly remembered as the honorary secretary of the Philharmonic Society for 27 years ...

and

Orlando Morgan Robert Orlando Morgan (1865 – 16 May 1956) was an English music teacher, composer and musicologist. He is best remembered as an influential teacher at the Guildhall School of Music in London, where he taught for 64 years, from 1887 to 1951, as ...

and was subsequently a professor of piano there, from 1927 until 1965. He made his first public appearances in the 1920s as a solo pianist, in chamber ensembles and as a concerto performer, travelling across the UK, Scandinavia, the Low Countries and France. This continued over the next few decades, including frequent

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

broadcasts. From the 1940s Harrison's broadcasting work expanded into schools programming, music appreciation and as the presenter of gramophone records, continuing until the late 1970s. In 1950 Harrison gave what has been claimed to be the first televised piano lesson. The first of six weekly lessons was broadcast by BBC Television as ''Piano Lesson No 1'' on 10 January 1950. The series continued in November the same year as '' How to Play the Piano''. In 1956 George Martin (who had been encouraged to audition for the Guildhall School by Harrison) recorded some lessons and performances of

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

and Chopin on a

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

extended play record called ''Sidney Harrison Shows You How''. During the 1960s and 1970s Harrison was a frequent broadcaster, and occasional guest on the BBC television musical quiz show '' Face the Music''. His compositions include a suite ''The Voyage: five pieces for piano solo'' (OUP 1949), and the ''Fantasia on 'Brother James's Air (OUP 1952). After 1965 Harrison continued teaching piano at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

and adjudicating at competitions. He was chairman of the European Piano Teachers' Association and also the editor of its quarterly ''Piano Journal''. He continued performing at recitals until the end of his life. His dozen books included ''Music for the Multitude'' (1939), ''The Enjoyment of Music'' (1953), ''Piano Technique'' (1953), the autobiographical ''Teacher Never Told Me'' (1961) and ''Grand Piano'' (1977). During the 1960s he was living by the River Thames at 57 Hartington Road in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

, and later at 37 The Avenue, Chiswick.''Writers Directory, 1980-1982'', p 534
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Sidney 1903 births 1986 deaths British classical composers British classical pianists Male classical pianists Classical music radio presenters Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama Academics of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British male musicians Classical musicians associated with the BBC