BIDDER, Helen

Helen Bidder was an English pianist, music educator, arranger, and composer. She is most prominently remembered for her close professional association with giants of 20th-century British classical music, particularly Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Bidder studied music in London and spent a significant portion of her career serving on the piano teaching staff at St Paul’s Girls’ School in Hammersmith. During her tenure, she worked alongside Gustav Holst, who served as the school’s Director of Music. Alongside her colleague Vally Lasker, Bidder became an integral part of the school's vibrant musical community. Because of their exceptional sight-reading and pianistic skills, Helen Bidder and Vally Lasker were regularly called upon by Ralph Vaughan Williams to execute the initial two-piano "play-throughs" of his major orchestral sketches before they were finalized and orchestrated. While she worked heavily as a transcriber and assistant, Bidder also composed original educational and character pieces for the piano. Her pedagogical influence extended to many students, including the notable film producer and music enthusiast Christine Oestreicher. Modern recordings of her Vaughan Williams transcriptions, performed by duos like Goldstone and Clemmow, continue to keep her musical contributions alive in the British classical discography.