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The Cello and the Nightingales: The Life of Beatrice Harrison
The memoirs of cello prodigy Beatrice Harrison, the woman who brought the music of the nightingale to millions worldwide - and created the first interspecies collaboration
In 1924, Beatrice Harrison broadcast a miracle to the a wild nightingale singing with her cello. Over a million people tuned in to hear the nightingale that night, and the BBC went on to broadcast their duet worldwide every spring until 1942. This transformed the public interest in nightingales - a species already in decline.
If Beatrice's duets with the nightingales touched a chord with the world, her own life proved to be as musical, free-spirited and inspiring. From her early years as a musical prodigy to recording with the most important composers of the day or playing for the wounded in the Second World War, Beatrice's warmth and love for sharing music are as endearing now as they were to her original audiences.
In 1924, Beatrice Harrison broadcast a miracle to the a wild nightingale singing with her cello. Over a million people tuned in to hear the nightingale that night, and the BBC went on to broadcast their duet worldwide every spring until 1942. This transformed the public interest in nightingales - a species already in decline.
If Beatrice's duets with the nightingales touched a chord with the world, her own life proved to be as musical, free-spirited and inspiring. From her early years as a musical prodigy to recording with the most important composers of the day or playing for the wounded in the Second World War, Beatrice's warmth and love for sharing music are as endearing now as they were to her original audiences.
- GenresNonfiction
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 4, 2025
Charming and idiosyncratic memoir of an extraordinary English cellist. Her writing may not necessarily dazzle, notwithstanding the editors' judicious cuts, but her life does.
My absolute favorite bit was the sea crossing where she helped collar some German spies - apparently they were entirely unsuspicious of the musician daughters of a retired English colonel! But the girls were curious about the sounds of tearing paper in the cabin next to theirs, nimble and plucky enough to climb up to a vent to listen in, and perfectly fluent in German. They reported everything to the captain before debarking, as I recall, and read later about the arrests and conviction (without further involvement).
I think the prefatory matter and epilogue are largely skippable. There's some mild interest in portions of the original introduction, to the extent it tells the story of how the book came to be published. And the epilogue is a little depressing, as it discusses certain claims (presumably baseless) that the nightingale singing in response to the cello was not real. But if you want to believe that kind of malarkey, why bother with this book at all?
My absolute favorite bit was the sea crossing where she helped collar some German spies - apparently they were entirely unsuspicious of the musician daughters of a retired English colonel! But the girls were curious about the sounds of tearing paper in the cabin next to theirs, nimble and plucky enough to climb up to a vent to listen in, and perfectly fluent in German. They reported everything to the captain before debarking, as I recall, and read later about the arrests and conviction (without further involvement).
I think the prefatory matter and epilogue are largely skippable. There's some mild interest in portions of the original introduction, to the extent it tells the story of how the book came to be published. And the epilogue is a little depressing, as it discusses certain claims (presumably baseless) that the nightingale singing in response to the cello was not real. But if you want to believe that kind of malarkey, why bother with this book at all?
March 3, 2021
A really incredible account of an amazing woman’s life
April 30, 2025
Beautiful story about a life well lived in, through and for music.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews