For Barry Tuckwell

Hello everyone.

I’m going to take a break from my blog thread about my years in Hollywood to honor one of the great legends of the horn world, Barry Tuckwell, who we lost several weeks ago. 

Those that have a good memory of the legacy of horn soloists know Maestro Tuckwell’s place in history. For those who do not, who are only exposed to or infatuated with the soloists of the day, Barry Tuckwell came along at a time when there were almost no horn soloists.  

The first truly memorable soloist people came to know was Dennis Brain. But when Dennis died in a car accident in 1957, there became an international gap which remained unfilled until the London Symphony orchestra did a couple of recordings with their principal horn as the soloist. That principal horn was Barry Tuckwell. He went on (along with his counterpart in Germany, Hermann Baumann) to become one of the most celebrated, prolific and important voices in the solo horn world. Without Barry’s contributions to the literature via not only his recordings of standard repertoire but also the number of horn concertos that were commissioned for him, we as horn players in this day and age would not possess our current wealth of repertoire. 

We are forever indebted to him for his mastery of the instrument, for his level of musicianship, for his wonderful sense of music, for his comradery in the horn world, and for the legacy that he leaves behind. 

A few personal notes:

 I had the experience of seeing Barry perform Mozart’s 2nd horn concerto with the LA philharmonic at the Hollywood bowl sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s. Of course, I was mesmerized by what I heard. The next time I had a chance to interact with him was at the IHS horn symposium in Tallahassee. I was to be featured as a jazz artist in a late-night concert, directly outside of the recital hall venue where Barry was playing a shared recital with a few other of our great colleagues. I was making sure all of our equipment was correct, as we needed to have soundchecks since it was outside and everything was amplified, wishing I could be inside listening to all of those great players. The next thing I knew a gentleman stepped out from backstage, and it was Barry Tuckwell! All by himself! I can’t explain why, but before we actually started speaking to each other we basically just stood there and looked at each other and with a sense of spontaneity both of us broke into great wide grins. We both shook hands, and I don’t think even lot was said… but a great deal was understood. 

The other great moment I had with Barry was when he was a soloist with the Long Beach Symphony. There was some sort of miscommunication contractually, and for whatever reason there were three concerts and Barry could only do two. I was invited to be his replacement for the third concert, which I think was about as great an honor as a soloist could ask for (what a treat to be Barry Tuckwell’s understudy!!) I never took lessons from him, but I felt whenever I listened to him play, I received a lesson of immeasurable value. 

Those of you who are not aware of history and legacy, perhaps this is a good place to begin. If you are unfamiliar with Tuckwell’s playing, I highly recommend that you become so. Hopefully you will gain some inquisitiveness to discover more of the generations of players who have come before you, and their values and contributions to what we know and are today. 

Thank you, Barry for your immeasurable contributions and your immeasurable personality. May you rest in peace.  Saint Peter’s Orchestra just got a whole lot better.