Literary Lunch with Jessica Duchen

Location: Christopher Wren Dining Room, Ye Olde Watling Pub, 29 Watling Road, London EC4M 9BR.

Join us for our next Literary Lunch at the historic Ye Olde Watling pub where we will hear from author Jessica Duchen.

Jessica Duchen is a music journalist, critic and author. She grew up in London and studied music at Jesus College, Cambridge, plus piano with Joan Havill. Her previous biographies have included books about Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Gabriel Fauré and the London Chamber Orchestra. Her work has appeared in the Sunday Times, the i paper, BBC Music Magazine and specialist periodicals such as Pianist and International Piano. In the 1990s she became the founding editor of Britain’s first independent piano magazine and subsequently wrote for The Independent for 12 years.

Myra Hess - National Treasure by Jessica Duchen

Published by Kahn & Averill, February 2025

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 through the darkest of times.

This biography, the first for nearly five decades, follows Hess’s transformation from rebellious young musician into inimitably powerful woman and national heroine. Revealing much previously unpublished material, it encompasses her struggles for recognition, her beloved transcription of Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring, her collaborations with towering musicians of her day and extracts from her vivid postwar American diaries. A unique, unstoppable personality emerges, replete with generosity, courage, humour and sheer, unfailing ‘chutzpah’.

'An undisputed national treasure, but there’s more to Myra, as Duchen’s lovingly written, thoroughly researched new biography reveals…Duchen also shows us Hess’s bawdy sense of humour… It makes for a rich portrait of a wonderful pianist.' BBC Music Magazine

Best summer books of 2025 - The FT Weekend

Music book of the year - The Oldie

Winner: Presto Music Awards 2025

Nominated: Royal Philharmonic Society Awards 2025 - winners yet to be announced.

The cost of this lunchtime event, which starts at 1.00pm, is just £35 and includes a traditional two-course lunch, as well as the after-lunch interview with Jessica Duchen and Georgina Brown. We are restricted to 35 attendees, so please book early to avoid disappointment.

To book, please email the Livery Committee Treasurer, Dave Rosewell on dave.rosewell@icloud.com