Get Out of Jail Card

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This week, Donald introduces us to the remarkable life story and unsung musical innovations of Hélène de Montgeroult. There aren’t many composers who can claim that music saved their life – at least, in the literal sense. But for Hélène de Montgeroult, it was her astounding powers of improvisation that got her out of the stickiest situation imaginable, hauled in front of the guillotine during the French Revolution. This week, we’ll follow her rollercoaster tale and hear how she had her own revolutionary impact on the piano literature. Described as a precursor of Romanticism, anticipating the language of Schubert and Mendelssohn, audiences said her playing “made the keys speak”. She broke ground as the first female professor at the Paris Conservatoire and left behind 600 pages of music, including a complete course for piano which elevated the technical study into a miniature lyrical artform. As Donald pieces together her tantalising story, he’s joined by pianist Clare Hammond, who has spent recent years getting to know Montgeroult and recording an album of her études. Today, Hélène is back home in Paris – but widowed and locked up in a jail cell. Facing the guillotine, we hear how she used her musical talents to save her own life, and how she was set free with a new vocation. Donald and Clare discuss the impact of this extraordinary episode as well as her pioneering approach as a piano teacher. Etude No 114 in F minor Bruno Robilliard, piano Sonata in G minor, Op 2 No 1 Nicolas Horvath, piano Thème varié dans le genre moderne Edna Stern, fortepiano Sonata in D major, Op 5 No 1 (2nd-4th mvts) Hiroaki Takenouchi, piano Etudes Nos 82 in C minor, 104 in G sharp minor, and 74 in C minor Clare Hammond, piano Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Cardiff