Hilda Gaunt (1906 – 10 October 1975) was rehearsal pianist with The Royal Ballet for over 40 years.
[3][4] During wartime, when orchestras were a luxury, she toured the UK extensively with the ballet, accompanying them in performances alongside Lambert (and sometimes Harold Rutland) on two pianos, to general acclaim.
At the end of her life she collaborated with Leighton Lucas, compiling the score for Kenneth MacMillan's 1974 ballet L'histoire de Manon from the music of Jules Massenet.
[7][8] Frederick Ashton remembered Gaunt as endearing herself to Constant Lambert by being "a tremendous drinker.
[9] Ballerina Annabel Farjeon also remembered her well at Sadler's Wells:[10] Hilda Gaunt sat at the battered upright piano, a cigarette drooping from her mouth as she gossiped in a husky, smokey voice.