Jessica Duchen’s Myra Hess – National Treasure would be my music book of the year. It’s a meticulously reserached and superbly narrated biography of a woman whose life is rich in interest, both before and after those famous wartime National Gallery concerts. Richard Osborne – The Oldie Throughout World War II, Dame Myra Hess, Britain's greatest concert pianist, ran lunchtime concerts at London's National Gallery. They became the stuff of legend, proving music's power to support the human spirit in the darkest of times. This biography, the first in nearly five decades, follows Hess's transformation from rebellious young musician into inimitably powerful woman and national heroine. She was born into a religious Jewish family in Victorian north London and studied at the Royal Academy of Music with the renowned pedagogue Tobias Matthay. Nevertheless, as a woman seeking to build a performing career before World War I, she faced a struggle for recognition. At home, a clash with her father