FAREWELL TO…
Barry Tuckwell Born 1931 French horn player
Aged 15, just two years after picking up a French horn for the first time, Barry Tuckwell made his professional debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Suffice to say the instrument was a natural fit for the Australian, who then spent a number of years with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra before moving to England at 19. Here he studied with Dennis Brain, but it wasn’t long before he found himself in the ranks of the Hallé, Scottish National, Bournemouth and London Symphony orchestras; he was principal horn of the LSO until 1968, when he went solo. Tuckwell commissioned several new works from composers including Oliver Knussen, Thea Musgrave, Ian Hamilton and Richard Rodney Bennett that are staples of the repertoire today. A committed educator, Tuckwell taught at the Royal College of Music for ten years, was an artist-in-residence at colleges on both the east and west coasts of the US and established orchestras in Maryland, US and Tasmania, Australia. He has left a legacy of over 50 recordings and three books on horn technique, not to mention countless musicians taught or inspired by his music-making over the years.
Peter Serkin Born 1947 Pianist
Passionately committed to new music, Peter Serkin made audiences and critics sit up and take notice when he made his professtional debut in the 1960s. The son of pianist Rudolf Serkin and the grandson of conductor Adolf Busch, it was perhaps inevitable that he would embrace a career in music. That said, he did so on his own terms, bringing a laidback approach to his early recitals and programming unconventional pieces. A Grammy winner at 19, Serkin’s dedication to living composers saw him commission many works during his career, but he never turned his back on traditional repertoire. He actually quit performing in the early 1970s and moved to Mexico, but decided to resume his career after hearing an inspirational Bach recital on the radio. Soon after his return to the US he founded the Tashi Quartet with Ida Kavafian, Fred Sherry and Richard Stoltzman. Serkin taught at the Curtis Institute, Juilliard and Tanglewood.
Also remembered…
The writer, philosopher, social thinker and moral commentator
Roger Scruton (born 1944) was also the author of several books on the philosophy of music, including Music as an Art and a much-lauded examination of Wagner’s Ring called The Ring of Truth.
Following studies with the likes of Olivier Messiaen and Percy Grainger, the American keyboardist Joan Benson (born 1925 ) went on to become a champion of the clavichord. She played a major part in reviving keyboard repertoire by CPE Bach.