In addition to standard indexing by composer and work title, the material is grouped under the following categories:
Masterclass Series
The majority of the material falls into this category, which covers Hurst’s teaching mainly at the Canford Summer School of Music. It is further indexed, as follows:
- Practical Demonstrations (PDs) — short passages of physical demonstration, either with piano or with orchestra
- Full Demonstrations — full movements conducted in class, either as piano duet run-throughs (PRs) or orchestral run-throughs (ORs), usually in an end-of-workshop context
- Mini-masterclass — teaching of complete movements or works, edited with sufficient context to demonstrate Hurst’s overall approach
- Full Class — intended to give a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ impression of studying with Hurst. These classes consider both musical and technical elements, often focussing on a single movement in great detail, and they provide a sense of the camaraderie within his own select class at Canford every summer
In Rehearsal
These videos cover preparations for workshop performances, or otherwise repertoire sessions in which key elements of a work would be explored via the student conductor on the rostrum.
In Performance
There is not a great deal of television footage showing George Hurst in a professional context, although we hope that further extant footage may emerge as this archive establishes itself. At present, we have two workshop performances of concerti from the Canford Summer School and a performance with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, broadcast on Venezuelan television. We also provide a link to the EMI DVD release of a performance of the Schumann Piano Concerto from 1963, with Claudio Arrau as the soloist. The latter allows a comparative assessment of Hurst’s technique during this earlier period, about which there is further discussion elsewhere on this site.
Music Study
These videos present George Hurst’s exploration of complete movements or works. Such outlining of his interpretative vision (and the musical traditions passed on to him via Pierre Monteux, in a direct line from Liszt, Wagner, Richter and Nikisch) was a central element of his teaching.
Musical and Technical Principles
Short clips in which Hurst makes reference to many of the principles we outline in the associated articles on this site.
Stories and Vignettes
These light-hearted videos have been included to give an impression of George’s good-natured humour with many of his students. He also had a reputation as something of a raconteur, and a few of his favourite stories and anecdotes are preserved here.