Name Aubrey Brain Children Dennis Brain Parents Alfred Edwin Brain Sr. | Spouse Marion Brain (m. 1914) | |
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Similar People Dennis Brain, Adolf Busch, Rudolf Serkin, Johannes Brahms | ||
Aubrey brain 1893 1955 adolf busch rudolf serkin brahms horn trio op 40 ii rec 1933
Aubrey Brain (12 July 1893 – 21 September 1955) was a British horn player and teacher. He was the father of Dennis Brain.
Contents
- Aubrey brain 1893 1955 adolf busch rudolf serkin brahms horn trio op 40 ii rec 1933
- Biography
- Discography
- References
Biography
Aubrey Harold Brain was born in London in 1893. He came from a musical family. His father, Alfred Edwin Brain Sr. was a member of the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) horn quartet. His brother Alfred was for many years principal horn player in the Queen's Hall Orchestra under Sir Henry J. Wood. He went to the United States to join the Damrosch Orchestra in 1923, and remained permanently, becoming an American citizen.
In 1911 Aubrey Brain won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. He was appointed principal horn of the New Symphony Orchestra that same year, and in 1912 he went on the LSO's tour of the United States under Arthur Nikisch. He was principal horn of Sir Thomas Beecham's opera company orchestra in 1913.
In 1923 he succeeded his teacher Borsdorf as professor of horn at the Royal Academy of Music, where his son Dennis was among his students.
Dame Ethel Smyth wrote her Concerto for Violin, Horn and Orchestra with Aubrey Brain in mind. He and Jelly d'Arányi premiered the work under Sir Henry Wood on 5 March 1927. He also played it in Berlin with Marjorie Hayward. He joined the BBC Symphony Orchestra as principal horn, and remained there until illness caused his premature retirement in 1943. He was often a soloist, and made a number of recordings
He had a marked preference for French instruments, and played a hand horn made by Labbaye in c. 1865, to which English-made valves had been added. He would never permit the use of large-bore German horns in the BBC Symphony.
He married Marion Beeley, a singer at Covent Garden. His two sons were Dennis Brain, even more famous as a horn player, and Leonard Brain, an oboist.
Discography
One recording by Aubrey Brain has been made available by the British classical record company Testament: