Tessa Daphne Birnie OAM (19 July 192410 March 2008) was an internationally acclaimed New Zealand and Australian concert

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Biography

Birnie was born in Ashburton, on the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

of New Zealand, in 1924. She first heard a piano in a local hall when she was three or four, and decided then that the piano was to be her destiny. Her mother Edna took her to the

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

when she was 10, and she did not see her father again until she was an adult. She achieved the Royal School of Music's licentiate when she was 14. Instead of attending secondary school, she was taught by private tutors. Her music teachers included the Viennese Jewish refugee pianist Paul Schramm (1892–1953) who was living in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, and French pianists

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher and conductor. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organist. From a ...

and

Yvonne Lefébure Yvonne Lefébure (29 June 1898, Ermont – 23 January 1986, Paris) was a French pianist and teacher. Born in Ermont, she studied with Alfred Cortot at the Conservatoire de Paris, taking a ''premier prix'' in piano and numerous other subjects. She ...

. She gave a recital in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

when she was 14, and then toured New Zealand before travelling to Europe with her mother. She lived in Paris, London and

Lake Como Lake Como ( it, Lago di Como , ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh de Còmm , ''Cómm'' or ''Cùmm'' ), also known as Lario (; after the la, Larius Lacus), is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of , making it the thir ...

in Italy, where she studied with

Karl Ulrich Schnabel Karl Ulrich Schnabel (August 6, 1909 – August 27, 2001) was an Austrian pianist. Schnabel was the son of pianist Artur Schnabel and operatic contralto and lieder singer Therese Behr and elder brother of the American actor Stefan Schnabel. An i ...

, the son of

Artur Schnabel Artur Schnabel (17 April 1882 – 15 August 1951) was an Austrian-American classical pianist, composer and pedagogue. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness as a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among the 20th centur ...

. From the beginning, her mother supported and encouraged her, performing the roles of "travelling companion, business manager, concert organiser and lady-in-waiting". She made her debut as a concert pianist in Paris in 1960. She was reunited with her father in the 1960s, on her return from Europe, around which time the family moved to Sydney, Australia, where they lived in Middle Cove. After her parents died she shared her house with other musicians. She founded the Sydney Camerata Orchestra in 1961 and the Australian Society for Keyboard Music in 1964. Birnie made many recordings, including a 1977 recording of

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 ...

's ''Moonlight'' Sonata, played at its original lower pitch with the composer's original pedals, and rediscovered numerous forgotten pieces for piano from the 17th and 18th centuries. Highly acclaimed for her marathon performances in Australia and Europe, she also performed the entire cycle of

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

sonatas in San Francisco in 1961 and

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's complete keyboard works in 1982. Her music memory was "phenomenal". She was awarded the West German Government's Beethoven Medallion in 1974. In 1985 she was awarded the Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM)."Miss Tessa Daphne Birnie"
It's an Honour: OAM, 26 January 1985 She wrote numerous texts on keyboard music, as well as a 1997

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

entitled ''I'm Going to Be a Pianist!'' (Sydney: Azzano Press, ). Birnie did not marry, and "her comforts were

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

's novels and chocolates". She died in Sydney in 2008, aged 83.

References

External links

Photo of Birnie
by

Max Dupain Maxwell Spencer Dupain AC OBE (22 April 191127 July 1992) was an Australian modernist photographer. Early life Dupain received his first camera as a gift in 1924, spurring his interest in photography. He later joined the Photographic Society ...

National Portrait Gallery (Australia) The National Portrait Gallery (NGPA) in Canberra is a public art gallery containing portraits of prominent Australians. It was established in 1998 and moved to its present building on King Edward Terrace in December 2008. History In the earl ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Birnie, Tessa 1924 births 2008 deaths People from Ashburton, New Zealand New Zealand classical pianists Australian classical pianists Australian women pianists Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia New Zealand emigrants to Australia 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century Australian women 20th-century women pianists