Jonathan West <[email protected]> wrote: I once had the misfortune to play a reahearsal under the former British Prime Minister Edward Heath, who clearly fancied himself as a conductor. He would follow the orchestra - but at a considerable distance.
I have never played under Heath, and indeed have never heard him perform, but he has a reputation as an accomplished organist. I did bump into him once. It was 1975, my first year graduate study in theory at Yale. I had met with another student who had a graduate advisorship in one of the undergraduate residential college, and we were walking through the basement f that college to reach a room with a piano. When I opened a door and started to walk through, there were two people on the other side coming the other way. The gentlemanly white-haired man on the other side imediately drew back, to allow us to pass. He acted so compellingly elegantly that, despite his superior age, I nodded and continued through the door. After we passed, my colleague exclaimed softly: "Do you know who that was?" "No." "It was Edward Heath!" At the time I knew nothing of his musical credentials, but his discography includes conducting the Beethoven Triple Concerto. My memory of the incident at the door suggests he was very eloquent and compelling in gesturing what others should do. Was this from conducting or prime ministering? _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
