Editing Dennis Brain (section)

==Life and career==
===Early years===

[[File:Brain-tree.png|thumb|upright=1.25|alt=Family tree showing Brain's grandfather horn player, father horn player, brother oboist, and Brain]]

Brain was born in [[Hammersmith]], London on 17 May 1921 to a musical family. His mother, Marion, ''née'' Beeley (1887–1954), was a singer at [[Royal Opera House|Covent Garden]] and his father, [[Aubrey Brain|Aubrey Harold Brain]], was first horn of the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] and regarded as "the leading exponent of the instrument in Britain at that time".<ref name=odnb/> Aubrey's father, [[Alfred Edwin Brain, Sr.]], and elder brother, [[Alfred Edwin Brain Jr.]], had been prominent horn players in Britain, and in the latter's case the US.{{refn|Alfred Jr (1885–1966) emigrated to the US in 1923, where he was principal horn of the [[New York Symphony Orchestra]] and, for 14 years, of the [[Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra]]. He became manager of the [[Hollywood Bowl]] concerts and from 1943 until his retirement played in the film studio orchestras of [[MGM]] and [[20th Century Fox]].<ref name=grove/>|group=n}} Brain's elder brother, Leonard (1915–1975), became a leading player of the [[oboe]] and [[cor anglais]],<ref name=g1>Gamble and Lynch, p. 1</ref> principal of the [[Royal Philharmonic Orchestra]].<ref>Waymark Peter. "Celebration to mark RPO's first concert", ''The Times'', 15 September 1971, p. 17</ref>
Brain was educated at Richmond Hill Preparatory School and then [[St Paul's School, London]].<ref>Gamble and Lynch, p. 2</ref> Although it was assumed that he would become a horn player, his father kept him largely away from the instrument as a boy, in the belief that it should not be played until the adult teeth developed. Brain was allowed to blow a few notes on his father's horn every Saturday morning, to maintain his interest, but his first musical studies were piano and organ.<ref name=g1/>

In 1936 Brain was admitted to the [[Royal Academy of Music]] (RAM) to study horn under his father, who was a professor of the instrument there. He also studied piano with Max Pirani, organ with [[G. D. Cunningham]] and harmony with [[Montague Phillips]].<ref>Gamble and Lynch, pp. 3 and 6</ref> His professional début was on 6 October 1938 when he played in [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach's]] [[Brandenburg Concertos#Concerto No. 1 in F major, BWV 1046|Brandenburg Concerto no. 1]] (which features two [[concertante]] horn parts) as second horn to his father in the [[Queen's Hall]], London, under the baton of [[Adolf Busch]]. The music critic of ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' wrote:
{{blockindent|In the F major concerto Aubrey Brain was in his accustomed place as first horn but he had a new partner, his 17-year old son, Dennis, whose first appearance this was—a Queen's Hall event of no little interest. The famous family keeps up its traditions in the representative of the new generation. Son seconded father with a smoothness and certainty worthy of his name.<ref>''Quoted'' in Gamble and Lynch, p. 8</ref>}}
The following month Brain and his brother were soloists in a concert featuring [[Mozart]]'s [[Horn Quintet (Mozart)|Horn Quintet]] (K. 407) and [[Oboe Quartet (Mozart)|Oboe Quintet]] (K. 370).<ref>"Recitals of the Week", ''The Times'', 4 November 1938, p. 12</ref> He appeared with ensembles including the [[Sidney Griller|Griller]] and [[Busch Quartet|Busch]] quartets and made broadcasts for the [[BBC]], the first of which, in February 1939, featured Mozart's Divertimento in D (K334) with Aubrey as first horn and Dennis as second.<ref>[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/b6d2bcab0dc24b829d455babbcbb6fc8 "Tuesday National"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614175727/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/b6d2bcab0dc24b829d455babbcbb6fc8 |date=2021-06-14 }}, ''Radio Times'', 26 February 1939, p. 38</ref> In the same month father and son recorded the work for [[Columbia Graphophone Company|Columbia]] with the [[Léner Quartet]].<ref name=legge>[[Walter Legge|Legge, Walter]]. [https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/dennis-brain-obituary-gramophone-november-1957 "Dennis Brain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519181749/https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/article/dennis-brain-obituary-gramophone-november-1957 |date=2021-05-19 }}, ''The Gramophone'', November 1957. Retrieved 12 June 2021</ref>

===RAF and wartime===
At the start of the [[Second World War]] Brain and his brother joined the armed forces. Unlike Germany and Italy, Britain did not exempt musicians from conscription, but the conductor of the [[Central Band of the Royal Air Force]], Wing Commander Rudolph O'Donnell, made considerable, and largely successful, efforts to ensure that, as [[Walter Legge]] put it, "every exceptionally able young instrumentalist knew that a place would be found for him in the RAF Band".<ref name=legge/> The band became what ''[[The Independent]]'' described as "a legendary ensemble",<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-cecil-james-1068573.html "Obituary: Cecil James"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210218071139/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-cecil-james-1068573.html |date=2021-02-18 }}, ''The Independent'', 23 October 2011</ref> and an RAF Symphony Orchestra was a spin-off. With them, Brain made a three-month tour of the US in 1944–45, and played during the [[Potsdam Conference]] in 1945.<ref name=odnb/>

Players in the RAF ensemble were allowed to perform for civilian managements when not required for official duties. Brain made 26 solo appearances in the wartime [[Myra Hess#Second World War|National Gallery]] concerts organised by [[Myra Hess]], in a range of works including the Mozart Horn Quintet (K407) and the Brahms Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano (Op. 40), which became, as his biographer Tim Barringer writes, "his signature works in later years".<ref name=odnb>Barringer, Tim. [https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/32034 "Brain, Dennis (1921–1957)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614175714/https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-32034;jsessionid=5F7DF320837F28C44E58B15008682741 |date=2021-06-14 }}, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2021 {{ODNBsub}}</ref> For the BBC he made more than 20 broadcasts during the war for the home or forces networks, mostly of chamber music, but on one occasion playing the Mozart [[Horn Concerto No. 4 (Mozart)|Horn Concerto K495]] with the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] conducted by [[Adrian Boult|Sir Adrian Boult]].<ref>[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=%22Dennis+Brain%22 "Dennis Brain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614175653/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=asc&q=%22Dennis+Brain%22 |date=2021-06-14 }}, BBC Genome; and  [https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/a9d1041064c9410198d94245b4ab0ae2 "BBC Orchestra"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210614175722/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/page/a9d1041064c9410198d94245b4ab0ae2 |date=2021-06-14 }}, ''Radio Times'', 13 September 1942, p. 14. Retrieved 12 June 2021</ref>

In mid-1942 Brain met the composer [[Benjamin Britten]]; the latter was writing incidental music, played by the RAF orchestra, for a series of BBC radio commentaries on war-time Britain which were being broadcast weekly to the US. Britten immediately recognised Brain's exceptional skill, and took little persuading to write a concert work for him. This was the [[Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings]],<ref name="bb"/> premiered at the [[Wigmore Hall]] in October 1944 with Brain and [[Peter Pears]] as soloists.<ref name=gs>Lewis, Geraint. [https://archive.org/details/Gramophone2020-10/page/93/mode/2up "Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings"], ''Gramophone'', October 2020, pp. 94–97</ref> Britten acknowledged Brain's help during the composition of the work:
{{blockindent|His help was invaluable in writing the work; but he was always most cautious in advising any alterations. Passages which seemed impossible even for his prodigious gifts were practised over and over again before any modifications were suggested, such was his respect for a composer's ideas.<ref name=bb>Britten, Benjamin. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/943677 "Dennis Brain (1921–1957)"], ''Tempo'' , Winter 1957–58, pp. 5–6 {{subscription required}} {{Cite web |url=https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AUserLogin&uselang=en&returnto=Special%3AOAuth%2Fauthenticate&returntoquery=%26oauth_consumer_key%3Dc656df92ac58925bbcb164666bde5baf%26oauth_token%3D77b10d65d7eb3f83545f2a7d17789ac2 |title=Archived copy |access-date=14 June 2021 |archive-date=12 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612164122/https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special%3AUserLogin&uselang=en&returnto=Special%3AOAuth%2Fauthenticate&returntoquery=%26oauth_consumer_key%3Dc656df92ac58925bbcb164666bde5baf%26oauth_token%3D77b10d65d7eb3f83545f2a7d17789ac2 |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>  }}

===Later years===
By 1945, Brain, at 24 years of age, was the most sought-after horn player in England.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Dennis Brain (1921–1957) – IHS Online|url = http://www.hornsociety.org/ihs-people/past-greats/28-people/past-greats/122-brain|website = Hornsociety.org|access-date = 2015-10-09|archive-date = 2019-02-02|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190202153731/https://www.hornsociety.org/ihs-people/past-greats/28-people/past-greats/122-brain|url-status = live}}</ref> His father injured himself in a fall, and retired from the BBC Symphony Orchestra, although he remained professor at the RAM until his death ten years later.<ref name=grove>Morley-Pegge, Reginald, and Niall O'Loughlin. [https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003817 "Brain family"], ''Grove Music Online'', Oxford University Press, 2001. Retrieved 14 June 2021 {{subscription required}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604042928/http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000003817 |date=4 June 2018 }}</ref> After the war, Legge and [[Thomas Beecham|Sir Thomas Beecham]] founded the [[Philharmonia Orchestra|Philharmonia]] and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras, respectively.<ref name=legge/> Brain was principal horn in both, playing for Beecham alongside the woodwind players dubbed "the Royal Family" –  [[Jack Brymer]] (clarinet), [[Gwydion Brooke]] (bassoon), [[Terence MacDonagh]] (oboe), and [[Gerald Jackson]] (flute).<ref>Melville-Mason, Graham. [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gwydion-brooke-6148964.html "Gwydion Brooke – Bassoonist in Sir Thomas Beecham's 'Royal Family'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930012824/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gwydion-brooke-6148964.html |date=2015-09-30 }}, ''The Independent'', 5 April 2005</ref> Later, he found that he did not have enough time to fill both positions and resigned from the Royal Philharmonic.<ref name=odnb/>

Brain originally played a French instrument, a Raoux piston-valve horn, similar to that used by his father.<ref>Gamble and Lynch, p. 190</ref>  This type of instrument has a particularly fluid tone and a fine legato, but a less robust sound than the German-made instruments which were becoming common.  In 1951 he switched to an [[Gebr. Alexander|Alexander]] single B{{music|flat}} instrument. It had a custom lead pipe which was narrower than the usual, and offered a sound which, if not comparable to the Raoux, at least gave a nod in the direction of the lighter French instrument.<ref>Gamble and Lynch, pp. 189 and 195–198</ref>

Pursuing his interest in [[chamber music]], Brain formed a [[wind quintet]] with his brother in 1946.<ref name="odnb" /> He also established a trio with the pianist Wilfrid Parry and violinist [[Jean Pougnet]].<ref>Gamble and Lynch, pp. 219–220</ref> Briefly, Brain put together a chamber ensemble consisting of his friends so that he could conduct.<ref>Gamble and Lynch, p. 45</ref> From 1945 he played with [[Karl Haas (conductor)|Karl Haas]]'s London Baroque Ensemble, both on recordings and in concert.<ref>Gamble and Lynch, p. 18</ref> Showing his humorous style, Brain performed a [[Leopold Mozart]] horn concerto on a rubber hose pipe at a [[Gerard Hoffnung]] music festival in 1956, trimming the hose with garden shears to achieve the correct tuning.<ref>Gamble and Lynch, p. 232</ref>

In November 1953, under the direction of [[Herbert von Karajan]], and accompanied by the Philharmonia, Brain recorded the four Mozart Horn Concertos for Columbia.<ref name=naxos>Notes to Naxos Historical CD set 8.111070 {{oclc|299065894}}</ref>  In the same month, together with [[Sidney Sutcliffe]] (oboe), [[Bernard Walton]] (clarinet) and [[Cecil James]] (bassoon), he recorded Mozart's [[Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds]].<ref>Schwarzkopf, p. 271</ref> In July 1954, again conducted by Karajan, Brain played the organ part in a recording of the Easter hymn from [[Pietro Mascagni]]'s ''[[Cavalleria rusticana]]''.<ref name=g83>Gamble and Lynch, p. 83</ref> With Sutcliffe, Walton, James and the pianist [[Walter Gieseking]] he recorded Mozart's [[Quintet for Piano and Winds (Mozart)|Quintet for Piano and Winds]], K452, in April 1955.<ref name=naxos/> Of Brain's other recordings, Legge singled out his playing in the four [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] Symphonies conducted by [[Otto Klemperer]], Mozart's [[Divertimenti for ten winds (Mozart)#Divertimento in B-flat major, K 186/159b|B flat Divertimento]] with Karajan and [[Richard Strauss|Strauss's]] ''[[Der Rosenkavalier]]'', "the horn-player's opera ''par excellence''!"<ref name=legge/>
[[File:Dennis-brain-alex.jpg|thumb|right|Brain's [[Gebr. Alexander|Alexander]] [[French horn#Single horn|B{{music|flat}}/A model 90 horn]], damaged in the crash, restored by [[Paxman Musical Instruments|Paxman]] and now on display at the [[Royal Academy of Music]] ]]
[[File:dennisbraingrave.jpg|thumb|right|Brain's grave, [[Hampstead Cemetery]], London]]
Brain was a keen motorist. His brother called him "the finest driver I have ever ridden with". Barringer writes that Brain bought
{{blockindent|… a series of increasingly fast cars, a passion that he shared with the conductor Herbert von Karajan. A copy of the magazine ''Autocar'' was spotted on his music stand as he recorded the Mozart horn concertos, playing from memory. This enthusiasm led to tragedy.<ref name=odnb/>|}}
On 1 September 1957, at the age of 36, Brain was killed driving home to London after performing the [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]] [[Symphony No. 6 (Tchaikovsky)|Symphony No. 6, ''Pathetique'']] with the Philharmonia under [[Eugene Ormandy]] at the [[Edinburgh Festival]].<ref>Gamble and Lynch, p. 221</ref> He had driven his [[Triumph TR2]] sports car off the road and into a tree on the A1 road opposite the north gate of the [[Hatfield Aerodrome|De Havilland Aircraft factory]] at Hatfield.

Brain was interred at [[Hampstead Cemetery]] in London. His headstone is engraved with a passage from the "Declamation" section of [[Paul Hindemith|Hindemith's]] Horn Concerto:
<poem>
     My call transforms
     The hall to autumn-tinted groves
     What is into what
     Has been...<ref name=foreman>Foreman, p. 114</ref></poem>

One of Brain's favourite horns (by Alexander of Mainz: a single B-flat horn with an F extension as a tuning slide) was badly damaged in his fatal crash. It has since been restored by Paxman Brothers of London and is on public display in the York Gate Collections at the RAM.<ref>[https://collections.ram.ac.uk/IMU/#/details/ecatalogue/2411 "Horn by Gebrüder Alexander, c.1950. Owned and played by Dennis Brain"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519182223/https://collections.ram.ac.uk/IMU/#/details/ecatalogue/2411 |date=2021-05-19 }}, Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 14 June 2021</ref>