Lucy Anderson (bap. 18 February 1795 – 24 December 1878) was an English pianists of the early Victorian era.[1] She is mentioned in the same breath as English pianists of the calibre of William Sterndale Bennett.[2]
She was baptised Lucy Philpot in Bath, Somerset on 18 February 1795[3][4] at Walcot St. Swithin, the daughter of John Philpot and Lucy Crouch. Her father was a music seller, who is also described as "a professor of music"[5] or "an obscure double bass player".[1] Grove has it that her sister Fanny, a piano teacher, married into the Loder family, which was prominent in Bath's musical community. However, genealogical research suggests that this was in fact Frances Elizabeth Mary Kirkham, step-daughter of Lucy's sister, Jane Harriet Philpot who became the wife of flautistGeorge Loder, the brother of violinist John David Loder.[6][7] Lucy had lessons from her cousin, a Mr. Windsor of Bath, and from William Crotch. She first achieved recognition as a pianist in Bath, moving to London in 1818.[8] In July 1820 she married a well-known violinist, George Frederick Anderson.
Lucy Anderson was the first woman pianist to play at the Philharmonic Society concerts.[5] She appeared 19 times between 1822 and 1862, and was the first pianist to play Beethoven's "Emperor" Concerto with the society.[9] She championed Beethoven's concertos and played them more often than any other English pianist up to 1850.[10] In 1843, she was piano soloist in Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, conducted by Ignaz Moscheles.[11] In 1869 she became an honorary member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, a rarely awarded honour.
In 1830, Johann Nepomuk Hummel composed a "Grand Military Septet" in C major, Op. 114, for violin, cello, double bass, flute, clarinet, trumpet and piano. One source says this was dedicated to Lucy Anderson,[12] although another says it was dedicated to Madame Adolphe de Lanneau.[13]
In 1837 the publisher Alfred Novello gave Lucy Anderson exclusive rights for six months to play Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 2 in England. This was a condition of an interest-free loan of £30 from her husband, the money being needed by Novello to publish the concerto.[14]
She is described as "formidable" and "a manipulator of wide patronage".[1] Two queens appointed her as their pianist, Queen Adelaide in 1832 and Queen Victoria in 1837, Anderson having been Victoria's piano teacher from 1834 or earlier.[15] She taught the piano to Victoria's children, as well as to other high-born ladies.[1] She was a teacher of Arabella Goddard.[16]
^Temperley, Nicholas (2001). "George Loder jr (b. Bath 1816 d. Adelaide 15 July 1868)". In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 15. London: Macmillan. p. 58. ISBN0-333-60800-3.
^Squire, W.B.; Pimlotte Baker, Anne (2004). "Anderson (née Philpot, Lucy (1797–1878)". In Matthew, H.C.G.; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 64–65. ISBN0-19-861352-0.
