He joined the Royal Air Force and wore military uniform but, as principal horn of the RAF Central Band, and then the RAF Symphony Orchestra, his contribution to the war effort was largely musical, give or take the odd spell on guard duty. By the end of the war he had retired as a soloist.īritain went to war soon after Dennis’s 18th birthday. On Christmas Day of 1940, during a blackout in Bristol where the BBC Symphony Orchestra was based during the war, Aubrey had a bad fall slipping on ice. “Son seconded father with a smoothness and certainty worthy of his name.” But Dennis was to be spared an oedipal confrontation of his own. “The famous family keeps up its traditions in the representative of the new generation,” wrote the Daily Telegraph. They played the first Brandenburg concerto.
DENNIS BRAIN MOUTHPIECE PROFESSIONAL
Aubrey, eight years his junior, was principal horn of the inaugural BBC Symphony Orchestra and in 1927 became the first person to record a Mozart horn concerto.ĭennis was taught by his father at the Academy, and made his professional debut alongside him at 17. Alf spent much of his professional life in Los Angeles. Alfred and Aubrey were the sons of A E Brain, who played fourth horn in the first ever Prom in 1895. Next to his Alexander is the Alexander “with adaptations by Sansone” played by his uncle Alfred, and the horn made “by Labbaye with Périnet valves by Brown” played by his father, Aubrey. Brain’s genealogy is laid out right there in the cabinet. Since 2002 the instrument has been behind glass at the Royal Academy of Music. I meet one American horn player, now retired, who remembers going in there as a young man and being asked if he’d like to “have a blow on Dennis’s horn”. For many years it stood in the window of the Paxmans shop in Covent Garden. It was retrieved from the wreckage and restored by Paxmans.
His single B flat Alexander 103 was severely damaged. His death was mourned by a wife, two children and a world of admirers. No doubt poor weather, lack of sleep and his addiction to speed proved a lethal combination. An inquest was unable to establish the cause of the accident. His TR2 slid off the road in heavy rain and hit an oak. The horn mangled in the car crashĭENNIS BRAIN died in the early hours of Sunday morning, 1 September, 1957. I have in my hands the horn of Dennis Brain. That inglorious moment is described in this extract, from a chapter entitled "Without Fear of Death", alongside a consideration of Brain's impact on the musical world. I went one better than that in the course of my researches: I played Brain's horn. One man reported that as a schoolboy he'd carried Brain's horn. Although he died in a car crash more than 50 years ago, since publication many people have written to me to say that they met him, were taught by him, saw him perform or give a school recital.
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