Harold Samuel was born in London and studied piano at the Royal College of Music with the eminent scholar and pianist Edward Dannreuther and composition with Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.

He and Walter Gieseking were among the first pianists of the twentieth century to play pure-Bach, distinguished for having programmed large scale works by Bach in their recitals.

To make a living Harold Samuel taught (he was, for example, the piano teacher of the British composers Benjamin Britten and Elizabeth Poston), did vocal coaching and became a sought-after accompanist (performing especially with violinist Isolde Menges).

[2] Compared with Gieseking's instrumental and musical mastery, Samuel may sound correct, academic and less interesting, but we have too few documents of how he played other composers to gain a full understanding of his art.

[3] The edition of Bach's 48 Preludes and Fugues (The Well-Tempered Clavier) in two volumes, published in 1924 for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, still in print (in revised form) and in use today, was prepared by Professor Donald Tovey, but was fingered throughout by Harold Samuel.