Cohen, Harriet (1895-1967), was an internationally famous British pianist. She developed a deep understanding of the music of the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach and of modern composers, including Sir Arnold Bax and Ralph Vaughan Williams of the United Kingdom. She arranged Bach’s organ Chorale Preludes for piano. Cohen was soloist at the premiere of a concerto Vaughan Williams wrote for her in 1933.
Cohen was born on Dec. 2, 1895, in London. She studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1912 to 1917 and then under Tobias Matthay, a leading British piano teacher. Her right hand was severely injured in 1948. Bax, a close friend, wrote a piano concerto for left hand for her. Cohen played one-handed until 1951, but the injury eventually forced her retirement in 1960. Cohen died on Nov. 13, 1967. Her memoirs, A Bundle of Time, were published in 1969, after her death.
