Biography

Esther Middleton was a war bride who came over from Holland and married my father just after the war. My family remember her as that Dutch girl with long black hair who trained as a concert pianist.

Esther died peacefully at Princess Royal University Hospital, Farnborough on 30 September 2006. She was aged 82

   Her father ran the local music school in Helmond in the South of Holland and my mother took over his pupils during the war while taking a music degree at the Rotterdam Conservatoire . Although she had been offered a job as a violinist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra , she pursued a career as a housewife and mother . Neither my brother nor I thought it the least odd to come home from school and find the house filled with the sound of Chopin’’s revolutionary etude which she played with passion.We presumed that was what all mothers did.

Even when my brother and I left home, she continued her music studies under John Vallier who also, taught, I believe, Princess Margaret.

But tragedy struck in 1979 when my father died suddenly of a stroke. At that time my parents were living in Chislehurst and a crisis loomed. Enterprising as ever my mother saw a advert for a pianist for a local ballet school Soon a pianist in Petts Wood passed on a few pupils. Esther Middleton never advertised but word spread and soon she was turning pupils away. Her students came from all the surrounding schools, from Chislehurst, Petts Wood, Bromley Beckenham and even Downe.

The crisis soon eased but, for the next twenty years my mother continued her little music school. It was more of a hobby, something that gave meaning and purpose to her life and she particularly enjoyed teaching very young children. She took her job very seriously and was pleased that all her students passed their music exams.

For those of you who visited her house can recall a room that had a Victorian sideboard, a violin hanging on the wall, a statue of Hermes and a piano. These - books and the garden were her life. One of the happiest afternoons of her last months occurred when the piano tuner arrived and spent the whole afternoon playing her piano.

A few years ago^[1] memory loss began to emerge but her long term memory remained and she refused to admit that she was ill, Early this year, two little girls, Caroline and Emily still came every Thursday. The piece of music played was ‘dreaming from ‘Schumman’s ‘ scenes from childhood’ and it was played for Caroline and Emily and the memory of the music school.

1. ↑ This was written in 2007