Miriam Hyde

 

Miriam Hyde (1913-2005) was an Australian composer, pianist and teacher with an impressionistic style. She studied piano and composition with Arthur Benjamin at the London Royal College of Music and also later studied at the Elder Conservatorium.

 

Hyde was a synaesthete who associated certain musical notes and keys with different colours. Because of this condition she composed many character pieces with very descriptive titles such as:

• "Forest Stream"

• "Lamp with a Fringe"

• "Dragonflies"

• "Magpies at Sunrise"

• "Reflected Reeds"

 

In 1969, Miriam Hyde wrote "Study in Blue, White and Gold". This piece is an Associate level piece dedicated to Gwen Adamson who wrote a letter of appreciation to Hyde. This particular letter was on a blue background with gold stars and a white candle. For Hyde, these colours represented B major, E major (the subdominant of B) and C major, respectively. (Wikipedia, 2015e)

 

The palette of these colours is introduced in the first two bars and then they blur throughout the rest of the piece, as shown in a small sample below: