May Harrison (23 August 1890 – 8 June 1959) was an English violinist and the oldest of four sisters who were classical musicians in Great Britain during the early 20th century. Each had started out as a child prodigy.
Contents
Information
May Harrison's sisters, Beatrice (1892–1965), Monica (1897–1983) and Margaret (1899–1995) became, respectively, a cellist, mezzo-soprano, and violinist. All four were reportedly also talented pianists. May Harrison became known for her interpretations of the violin works of Bach, Brahms, Elgar, Glazunov, Grieg, Handel, and Mendelssohn while her sister, Beatrice, was praised by King George V for her outdoor recordings at the Harrisons' home at Foyle Riding in Oxted, Surrey, of cello works mingled with nightingale songs. The monarch reportedly thanked her for bringing "the Empire closer together through the song of the nightingale and your cello".
According to Katherine Fountain, who wrote a biographical sketch of the Harrison sisters:
However much we admire the soloists of today, things will never be the same as during the lifetime of the Harrison family. They dedicated their lives to the cause of music, paving the way for a generation of women musicians. They gained the respect of the leading composers and performers of their day and set a musical precedent in the history of English music.
Formative years
Born in India in 1890, May Harrison was a daughter of Colonel John Harrison, an amateur flautist who was the principal at St. Thomas College of Sappers and Miners.. Her sister, Beatrice, was born in 1892 in Roorkee, Uttarakhand, "in a picturesque valley of the Himalayas", where her father worked, according to David Candlin.
That same year, the family returned to England, where May Harrison's father was given command of The Royal Engineers Band at Chatham. May Harrison began her violin studies in 1892 when she was just two years old. Sisters Monica and Margaret were born, respectively, at Redcliffe Square, London in 1897 and Chatham in 1899. From 1901 to 1920, May Harrison and her sisters grew up at Cornwall Gardens (with the exception of a brief interruption in 1908).
Musical training and career
In 1900, May Harrison vied against 3,000 male and female musicians of all ages in the Associated Board's Senior Department, taking home the Gold Medal when she was just ten years old. The next year, she was awarded a scholarship to The Royal College of Music. Her sisters, Beatrice and Margaret, were also accepted to the college, respectively in 1903 and 1904. (At the time of her enrolment, Margaret Harrison was reportedly the youngest student the college had ever accepted.)
From 1902 to 1907, May Harrison trained under Madrid Symphony conductor Fernandez Arbos. In 1903, she made her formal debut at St. James Hall. The program, conducted by Henry Wood, included: Bach's Chaconne and E Major Concerto, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto, and Saint-Saëns' Introduction and Rondo Cappriccioso. In the audience was violinist Fritz Kreisler.
According to Katrina Fountain, "May's genius, even at the age of fifteen, became apparent to Arbos who invited her in 1906 to make her European debut with the Madrid Symphony Orchestra. This was a great success and, with her mother as chaperone, she went to meet the Spanish Royal family and was presented with a gift of jewels".
In 1908, the bulk of the Harrison family relocated to Berlin, Germany for two years, where Beatrice Harrison began studies at the Hochschule für Musik. Meanwhile, May Harrison left England in 1908 to pursue her own studies in Saint Petersburg, Russia with Leopold Auer. She then made her European debut in 1909 in Berlin, Germany. That same year, she replaced Fritz Kreisler at the Mendelssohn Festival in Helsingfors, Finland".
Over the next decade, May and Beatrice Harrison increased their fame through performances of Johannes Brahms' Double-Concerto for Violin and Cello. Following their initial performance of the piece under the baton of Alexander Glazunov in St. Petersburg, they then performed it nearly 60 more times for European audiences, including a concert under the baton of Sir Thomas Beecham at Hallé (Manchester) on 3 December 1914. Inspired by their performance that night, Frederick Delius returned home to pen a Double Concerto, which he then dedicated to the Harrison sisters and which they, in turn, performed in 1920.
Death and interment
May Harrison and her sisters remained single until their deaths. Following May Harrison’s death in England on 8 June 1959, and her subsequent burial at St. Peter Churchyard cemetery in Limpsfield, Surrey, the three surviving sisters – Beatrice, Margaret and Monica – lived together in Limpsfield. Beatrice was the next to die, in Limpsfield on 10 March 1965, followed by Monica, died there on 8 December 1983 and Margaret, who died there on Christmas Eve in 1995. All three sisters were laid to rest at the same cemetery where their elder sister, May, had been interred.
According to Fountain, their mother had also been laid to rest at the same cemetery in 1934. Delius also rests nearby. "On his death in June 1934 Delius was buried at Grez-sur-Loing, but he had once told Mrs. Harrison that he would like to be buried in an English churchyard. Mrs. Harrison herself died earlier that same year (and their father, already ill, died soon after), but the sisters, after consulting Jelka Delius, saw that this wish was carried out, and in May 1935 his [Delius'] body was exhumed and brought over to England to be laid to rest in Limpsfield churchyard, near to the Harrisons’ own mother's grave".