Dennis Brain: A Life in Music

Chapter 8: Reminiscences by Colleagues

122 Reminiscences by Colleagues C H A P T E R 8 The memories of colleagues and friends abound with engaging and amusing anecdotes that help to compensate for the lack of personal letters (Chapter 6). One of the most striking aspects of these reminiscences is how vivid they are and how they help to paint something of a character sketch of Brain. The word “colleague” in this chapter includes musicians other than horn players in orchestras throughout the British Isles and in other countries. Horn players provide their reminiscences in Chapter 9. In a career of nineteen years from 1938 to 1957, Brain worked with many of the finest musicians in the British Isles and abroad. The Discography mentions only a few of the enormous number of musicians with whom he performed. Without a personal diary and with such a busy schedule, it is impossible to determine precisely where he was all the time. It would be impossible to mention all the musicians who remember Brain and recall the music they made together, but this chapter includes some of the more prominent. Brain was a private person, so it is difficult to find much information about what sort of person he was. Nice people are not always very interesting to describe—one can sum up their personal characteristics in a few words—and he was certainly a very pleasant person who was liked by many in the music profession and, it appears, anybody with whom he came in contact. Among famous musicians, Brain particularly admired jazz trombonist Tommy Dorsey, pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch, violinist Jascha Heifetz, Philharmonia principal trumpet Harold Jackson, and clarinetist Reginald Kell. Reminiscences by Colleagues 123 Gareth Morris (1920–2007) Of all the colleagues with whom he played over the years, flutist Gareth Morris was perhaps the one with whom Brain had the closest friendship. He had been best man at Brain’s wedding, and they worked together regularly from 1938 until the last concert at Edinburgh. Morris broadcast several tributes over the years. The following is an extract from a BBC tribute on May 17, 1996: Lots of people didn’t understand Dennis . . . but they imagined from his apparent simplicity that perhaps all he could do was play the horn and he wasn’t terribly bright. In fact, Dennis was extremely intelligent—very bright indeed. No fool, was Dennis! But I think that I should emphasize how really good he was. I don’t like trying to find things that are bad in people but with Dennis I wouldn’t think of trying to find anything about him that I didn’t like . . . I’ve often thought, was there anything about Dennis that irritated me? . . . Selfish? No! Well, is it selfish do you think, when he drove me all over the continent so very often, trying to beat his own record from, shall we say, Dieppe to Nice? He’d have in his diary how long it took him last time he did it, you see. So when we started, he’d open his little diary and off we’d go. This sort of conversation could take place, “Dennis we are just passing the most ancient walled city in France. Within those walls is the most magnificent Romanesque Cathedral.” [Dennis:] “Oh good!” “Are we going to stop and look at this amazing monument to civilization?” [Dennis:] “Perhaps when we come back.” Then on we’d go and I’d say, “Almost floating in the sky, Dennis, is the magnificent Cathedral of Bayeaux.” [Dennis:] “Oh good, I’ve seen a picture of it!” Then one day I said to him, “Dennis, can we stop and have some coffee?” [Dennis:] “Let’s wait until we get there.” So I thought, I know, I’ll say something else, so I said, “Dennis, can we stop I want to go to the lavatory!” [Dennis:] “I think we’re nearly there!” So I said, “Dennis, it is now getting urgent that I visit the lavatory!” I’d think to myself for a split second , “Was that selfish of Dennis?” No! Of course it wasn’t! The whole thing was a joke and he did want to beat his own record, didn’t he? No, I can’t say Dennis was selfish. So I have come to the conclusion that there isn’t anything I can find about Dennis that I didn’t absolutely love. And he was clever too. To hear him play the great solos in the orchestra was triumphant...