Bartlett, Ethel (1896–1978)

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Bartlett, Ethel (1896–1978)

English pianist. Born in Epping Forest, England, on June 6, 1896; died in Los Angeles, California, on April 17, 1978; studied with Tobias Matthay and Artur Schnabel; married Rae Robertson (1893–1956, a pianist with whom she frequently performed).

With her husband Rae Robertson, Ethel Bartlett founded a duo-piano team that had become famous in the United Kingdom by the 1930s; the two also made annual tours in Europe and the United States. Bartlett and her husband gave the first performance in 1931 of Sir Arthur Bax's duo-piano sonata. Benjamin Britten's compositions Scottish Ballad, Introduction and Rondo alla Burlesca, and Mazurka elegiac were all dedicated to the Bartlett-Robertson team. In 1944, they commissioned a duo-piano concerto from Béla Bartok, which he did not live to compose.

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