At present I am reading a book entitled ‘Fortune’s Daughters The Extravagant Lives of the Jerome Sisters: Jennie Churchill, Clara Frewen and Leonie Leslie’. Jennie Churchill was Winston Churchill’s mother.
It was interesting to read in this book of how Jennie, and presumably her sisters, were taught by the composer Stephen Heller. Jennie Churchill, also known as Lady Randolph Churchill, was a talented amateur pianist. Heller believed that Jennie was good enough to attain '“concert standard” however he wondered whether she would be prepared to work hard enough to achieve the standard required.
Heller lived in Paris for the last 25 years of his life and it would have been in this city that he would have taught Jennie. Jennie, her mother and her two sisters moved to Paris from New York in 1867.
Jennie shared her father’s love of music and she is named after the Swedish singer, Jennie Lind.
Stephen Heller was born in Pest, Hungary on the 15th May 1813. He was born into a Bohemian family of Jewish descent. He lived in a number of countries throughout his life. At the age of nine, he was sent to Vienna to study with Czerny. However Czerny’s lessons were too expensive, so he was taught by Anton Halm. At the age of 14, Heller began a long concert tour which ended two years later with Heller suffering from exhaustion.
After this, he studied composition and made contact with the composer, Robert Schumann. At the age of 18, he moved to Paris and was able to make a living there, working as an arranger, a composer, a teacher and music critic. He was not playing much in public at this time, leaving other artists to play his music. In Paris he became acquainted with Berlioz, Chopin, Lizst and others. In 1862, Heller travelled to England, and there he performed with his friend Charles Hallé, works for two pianos. Hallé, Robert Browning and Lord Leighton, persuaded the English to subscribe sufficient funds to provide him with an annuity, which he enjoyed for the rest of his life when he became blind. His music encompassed German, French and Viennese styles and in later years, his music exhibited characteristics of Czech music.
Heller wrote many pieces for the piano and some of his studies are still being played today. His pieces are celebrated for their originality, grace and elegance. His etudes of Opus 45 - 47 are among his most important teaching pieces. These pieces were composed in 1866, six years after his arrival in Paris when he was at the height of his creative career. Many of the etudes have been given a title, suggesting a mood or character.
References - www.allmusic.com, www,wikipedia.org and ‘The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature’ by Jane Magrath.