Winifred Christie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Winifred Christie (b. February 26, 1882, Stirling, England – d. February 8, 1965, London, England[1]) was a British pianist and composer best known as an advocate of the Moór-Duplex piano.

Contents

[edit] The Moór-Duplex piano

Winifred Christie spent a significant portion of her career promoting the Moór-Duplex piano, a double keyboard with a coupler between the two manuals (an octave apart), invented by Christie’s husband, Hungarian pianist, inventor, and composer Emanuel Moór[2][3]. The Moór-Duplex aided in the playing of octaves, tenths, and even chromatic glissandos. The piano makers Steinway, Bechstein, and Bösendorfer all put the mechanism into their instruments. Christie performed on the instrument frequently in Europe and the United States and published (in collaboration with Moór) a manual of technical exercises for the instrument.

[edit] Recordings

Christie also recorded selectively for the Aeolian Vocalion and Winner recording labels.

[edit] World Premiere Performances

In concert, Christie premiered Edgar Bainton’s Concerto-Fantasia and, in New York, on February 23, 1916, the piano version of Charles Tomlinson Griffes' "The White Peacock" at New York's Punch and Judy Theatre.[4]

In 1946, Christie founded and endowed the Westminster Central Music Library in London, England with a gift of ₤10,000 as a memorial to her late husband.[5]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Seventh Edition, Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky, Schirmer Books, New York, 1984, page 461
  2. ^ New York Times review, "Piano recital given by Winifred Chrsitie," December 14, 1934, page 28
  3. ^ New York Times review, "WINIFRED CHRISTIE, PIANIST, IN RECITAL," March 26, 1938
  4. ^ Charles T. Griffes: A Life in Music, by Donna K. Anderson, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993
  5. ^ A History of Public Libraries in Great Britain, 1845-1965 by Thomas Kelly, American Library Association, 1973

[edit] Further Reading

The Emmanuel Moor New Duplex-Coupler Pianoforte, article by F. Gilbert Webb from The Proceedings of the Musical Association, 48th Sess., (1921 - 1922), pp. 91-97, Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Musical Association.