Hall, Elsie (1877–1976)

Australian composer who won the Mendelssohn Prize. Born in Toowoomba, Australia, on June 22, 1877; died in Wynberg, South Africa, on June 27, 1976.

Elsie Hall, a prodigy who played the piano before her third birthday, was born in Toowoomba, Australia, in 1877. Though she won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London, her parents turned it down. Her first recital took place in 1884, and by age of nine she had performed Beethoven's Third Concerto in public. On her first trip to Europe, her playing was praised by Johannes Brahms, and her performances in London attracted the attention of George Bernard Shaw. In Berlin, she studied with Ernst Rudorff (1840–1916) and won the prestigious Mendelssohn Prize. An excellent teacher, Elsie Hall gave lessons to members of the British royal family (especially Princess Mary [1897–1965]), and to the brilliant composer-conductor Constant Lambert. A veteran of many world tours, Hall finally settled down in South Africa, where she performed concertos until she was in her 90s. At age 93, she traveled to the United States, and while there gave a number of enthusiastically received recitals. During World War II, Hall had entertained Allied troops in North Africa and Italy. On one wartime flight taking her from South Africa to a concert in Cairo in a Royal Air Force plane, the pilot's cargo invoice simply read: "8,000 gallons of brandy; Elsie Hall."

sources:

Burgis, Peter. "Hall, Elsie Maude Stanley (1877–1976)," in Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 9, pp. 162–163.

P.E.H. "Elsie Hall," in The Times [London], July 28, 1976, p. 16.

John Haag , Athens, Georgia