Mark Hambourg
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Mark Hambourg (russian: Марк Михайлович Гамбург, 1 June 1879 – 26 August 1960) was a Russian British 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 ...
.


Life

Mark Hambourg was the eldest son of the pianist Michael Hambourg (1855–1916), a pupil of
Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...
). His brothers included the cellist Boris Hambourg, the violinist Jan Hambourg (with whom he played in chamber ensemble as the Hambourg Trio), and the musical organiser Clement Hambourg (1900–1973). His father was principal of the Voronezh Conservatory, and later a professor at the Moscow Conservatory, so that Mark continued his studies with his father even when he attended that academy. His uncle Alexander Hambourg was also a conductor and his cousin Charles Hambourg (1895–1979) was a cellist and conductor.Palmer, Russell. ''British Music'' (1947), p. 117


London, 1889

The family moved to London in 1889, as refugees from the Tsarist regime. There, having been heard by
Paderewski Ignacy Jan Paderewski (;  – 29 June 1941) was a Polish pianist and composer who became a spokesman for Polish independence. In 1919, he was the new nation's Prime Minister and foreign minister during which he signed the Treaty of Versail ...
, Mark made a debut at the old Princes Hall on 12 July 1890. This was a success, and there was another concert there, and a tour of the provinces. The family was too poor to turn down these opportunities, though they would gladly have protected the boy from public life. As a child he was billed as Max Hambourg. He was invited into the circle of the painter
Felix Moscheles Felix Stone Moscheles (8 February 1833 – 22 December 1917) was an English painter, writer, peace activist and advocate of Esperanto. He frequently painted genre scenes and portraits. Biography Born on 8 February 1833 in London to a Germa ...
(son of the pianist
Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the Co ...
), in London, where he often met Oscar Wilde,
Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
,
Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...
and others. It was in this period that he became tired of elderly ladies wanting to kiss him, and permitted them to do so only in exchange for a large box of chocolates. In 1890 Shaw, hearing him play, felt that the Lyric Theatre was merely exploiting children, but late in 1891 he was admiring his performance of
Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
at the
Steinway Hall Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities such ...
and wrote that, with suitable training, "this Russian lad might astonish the world some day."


Vienna, 1891–1895

Sponsored largely by Paderewski, Hambourg was sent to study under Theodor Leschetitzky in Vienna for three years, arriving there in autumn 1891. There he won the
Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
Scholarship of 500 marks, and made a large number of friends among the artistic circles of Vienna. He made his first appearance as an adult pianist in early 1895, playing Chopin's Concerto No. 1 in E minor under the baton of Hans Richter, with the
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra The Vienna Philharmonic (VPO; german: Wiener Philharmoniker, links=no) is an orchestra that was founded in 1842 and is considered to be one of the finest in the world. The Vienna Philharmonic is based at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria. Its ...
. Then, while still a student with Leschetizky, he stood in at short notice (on his master's recommendation) to play Liszt's ''Hungarian Fantasia'' under
Felix Weingartner Paul Felix Weingartner, Edler von Münzberg (2 June 1863 – 7 May 1942) was an Austrian conductor, composer and pianist. Life and career Weingartner was born in Zara, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (now Zadar, Croatia), to Austrian parents. ...
, in place of
Sophie Menter Sophie Menter (29 July 1846 – 23 February 1918) was a German pianist and composer who became the favorite female student of Franz Liszt.Schonberg, 262. She was called ''l'incarnation de Liszt'' in Paris because of her robust, electrifying playing ...
, who was indisposed. The audience, at first disappointed, was completely won over, and at the banquet which followed,
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
himself proposed the toast to the young pianist.


England, and touring

In London in 1895
Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the The Proms, Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introd ...
conducted a concert at
St James's Hall St. James's Hall was a concert hall in London that opened on 25 March 1858, designed by architect and artist Owen Jones, who had decorated the interior of the Crystal Palace. It was situated between the Quadrant in Regent Street and Piccadilly, ...
in which Hambourg played three piano concerti. According to Wood, his appearance and technique were compared to that of
Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein ( rus, Антон Григорьевич Рубинштейн, r=Anton Grigor'evič Rubinštejn; ) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor who became a pivotal figure in Russian culture when he founded the Sa ...
, and Ferruccio Busoni later told Wood that Hambourg's was then the greatest talent of the time. In 1895 Hambourg began his first world tour (aged 16), beginning in Australia, where in ( Sydney) he was asked to prolong his stay by six weeks. Returning to London, he deputized for Paderewski at a
Philharmonic Society The Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) is a British music society, formed in 1813. Its original purpose was to promote performances of instrumental music in London. Many composers and performers have taken part in its concerts. It is now a membe ...
concert playing Anton Rubinstein's Piano Concerto No. 4 in D minor. He first appeared in Paris in 1896, and after that in Brussels and Berlin. He went to the United States in the latter part of 1898, making his New York debut under William Gericke with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and going on to tour the US. He then returned to London, and in 1901 made his first appearances at the
Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...
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 ...
under Henry Wood. Over the next four years he made another American tour and made visits to Poland, Russia and Germany. (He had met
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
through Felix Moscheles in London in 1900). In 1906 he made a month-long concert visit to South Africa, taking his own piano by precarious means across the
Veld Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Bot ...
t to one remote location. He first toured in Canada in 1909 and later became friends with the Canadian pianist
Harold Bradley Harold Ray Bradley (January 2, 1926 – January 31, 2019) was an American guitarist and entrepreneur, who played on many country, rock and pop recordings and produced numerous TV variety shows and movie soundtracks. Having started as a session ...
.


Wartime

At the outbreak of World War I parts of the press circulated the scurrilous rumour that Hambourg was German, obliging him to prove his Russian origin and to show that he had been naturalized British for over twenty years. He won damages from the '' Daily Mail'' in court. Soon afterwards he made another visit to America, and narrowly escaped making the return journey on the fateful last voyage of the '' RMS Lusitania''. On his return to London he gave recitals at the Aeolian Hall, of early English music from the
Fitzwilliam Virginal Book The ''Fitzwilliam Virginal Book'' is a primary source of keyboard music from the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean periods in England, i.e., the late Renaissance and very early Baroque. It takes its name from Viscount Fitzwilliam who beque ...
, learning it by memory from the manuscript itself as the German Breitkopf edition was unavailable. He gave many concerts of classics during the war at the
London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...
.


Later career

Hambourg's career survived World War I and he remained a very famous performer throughout the 1920s and 1930s. After the war, he again took up his programme of world touring, visiting France, South Africa and Canada, and making regular provincial tours in Britain, and he made a further world tour before 1924. But he lived in London for most of his adult life, mostly at 27
Cumberland Terrace Cumberland Terrace is a neoclassical terrace on the eastern side of Regent's Park in the London Borough of Camden, completed in 1826. It is a Grade I listed building. History It was one of several terraces and crescents around Regent's Park de ...
,
Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...
in a house full of antiques. Like his friend Benno Moiseiwitsch he was a member of the
Savage Club The Savage Club, founded in 1857, is a gentlemen's club in London, named after the poet, Richard Savage. Members are drawn from the fields of art, drama, law, literature, music or science. History The founding meeting of the Savage Club took ...
.Summers, Jonathan
'Mark Hambourg', notes to ''A–Z of Pianists''
Naxos CD (2007) 8.558107–10
Mark Hambourg recorded 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 made his first records in 1909. He can be seen in action as the down-and-out pianist nicknamed "Chopin" in John Baxter's 1941 movie '' The Common Touch''. He was also an occasional composer of works for solo piano including the ''Variations on a theme of Paganini'' (1902), and he also made arrangements of works for piano solo and two pianos. In 1907 Hambourg married the violinist Dorothea Muir Mackenzie (1881–1971), known as "Dolly", who had studied with
Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysa ...
. They had four daughters: pianist Michal Hambourg (1919–2004), with whom her father sometimes performed piano duos; the literary editor Sonia Hambourg-Bassarab; Nadine Hambourg Marshall, a teacher who married sociologist
Thomas Humphrey Marshall Thomas Humphrey Marshall (1893–1981) was an English sociologist who is best known for his essay " Citizenship and Social Class," a key work on citizenship that introduced the idea that full citizenship includes civil, political, and social ci ...
; and Daria Hambourg (1920–1993), wartime correspondent of Eric Koch.Koch, Eric. ''Otto and Daria: A Wartime Journey Through No Man's Land'' (2016) Mark Hambourg died in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
in England in 1960.Mark Hambourg
The Hambourg Conservatory of Music website


Writings

*''How to Become a Pianist'' (C. Arthur Pearson, London 1922); and as ''How to Play the Piano'' (George H. Doran, New York 1922). *''From Piano to Forte'' (Cassell, London 1931). *''The Eighth Octave'' (Williams & Norgate, London 1951).


Notes


External links


Mark Hambourg Collection
at the International Piano Archives at Maryland (accessed 12 Jul 2013) *Harriette Brower intervie

*Obituary of Michal Hambour

*Biographical essay on Mark and Michal Hambourg by Allan Evan

*Article on Mark Hambourg by
Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including '' O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and '' My Ántonia''. In 192 ...
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*Biographical essa

*Short biograph

*Bio on the official Hambourg Conservatory of Music websit

*The British Library's online sound recordings of Mark Hambour


Sources

*
Arthur Eaglefield Hull Arthur Eaglefield Hull (10 March 1876 – 4 November 1928) was an English music critic, writer, composer and organist.
, ''A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians'' (Dent, London 1924). *D. Brook, ''Masters of the Keyboard'' (Rockliff, London 1947 (2nd edn.)). *G. B. Shaw, ''Music in London 1890-1894'' (Constable, London 1932). *H. J. Wood, ''My Life of Music'' (Cheap Edition, Gollancz, London 1946). {{DEFAULTSORT:Hambourg, Mark 1879 births 1960 deaths British classical pianists British people of Russian-Jewish descent Russian classical pianists Jewish classical pianists Male classical pianists Classical piano duos Russian emigrants to the United Kingdom