Biographical Sketches
Ethel Bartlett
Ethel Bartlett was born on June 6, 1896, in Epping, England. She began studying at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1915 and became a pupil of the English pianist Tobias Matthay. She graduated from the Academy in 1919 and later studied in Berlin under Arthur Schnabel. She often performed as a piano accompanist for solo artists, notably cellist John Barbirolli during the 1920s, and continued to perform with him after she and Robertson married in 1921 and formed their duo in 1924. She continued performing and teaching after Robertson's death in 1956. Bartlett died on April 17, 1978, in Los Angeles, California.
Rae Robertson
John Rae Robertson was born on November 29, 1893, in Inverness, Scotland. He began studies in language at the University of Edinburgh and then continued his music studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 1914, studying under Tobias Matthay. His schooling was cut short by World War I. He was drafted in 1915 and, despite a number of injuries, was not discharged until 1918. Upon his discharge from the army, he resumed his studies at the Academy where he met Ethel Bartlett, another of Matthay's pupils. They married in 1921. He began a career as a solo pianist, performing in recitals through the 1920s, then formed a duo with Bartlett in 1924. He died in Los Angeles, California, on November 5, 1956.
Bartlett and Robertson
Ethel Bartlett and Rae Robertson married in 1921 and began performing as a piano duet in 1924. They toured together during the next few decades and recorded several albums of piano duet music. They commissioned works for piano duet from prominent composers of the period, including Benjamin Britten, Arnold Bax, and Bohuslav Martinů. Their repertoire included arrangements of other compositions, often completed by Bartlett and Robertson themselves. The duo was also known for revivals of older music, performing two-piano arrangements of music by William Byrd, John Bull, Giles Farnaby, and other early English composers. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, they toured across Europe and the Americas and recorded albums under His Master's Voice and Columbia Masterworks. Bartlett and Robertson owned a summer home in California where they hosted other musical artists of the time, including Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. In the early 1950s, they officially settled in California and continued performing as a duo until Robertson's death in 1956.