I thought that many of you would want to know that a new definitive biography of Dennis Brain has just been released. It was written by Stephen Gamble and William Lynch and updates the long out-of-print biography of Dennis Brain by Stephen Pettitt. It describes Brain's life, and analyzes in depth his musical career. The book is the result of the authors' interviews with Brain's family, friends, colleagues and former students of Brain. They also uncovered information about a great many of his recordings that were previously unknown.
Many of you who will be attending the IHS symposium in San Francisco this June are probably aware that one of the authors, William Lynch, will present an hour of clips of Dennis Brain's playing, plus a video, none of which have ever been heard or seen in the U.S. For those of you at the Symposium, the book will be available for sale for $15.00. (It's listed by the publisher at $29.95.) On the day of his presentation, Bill Lynch will sign copies. For those of you who won't be attending, you can order your book from your usual sources. I must insert a disclaimer here. In 2004, I received an e-mail from Stephen Gamble, one of the book's co-authors. He had seen a reply I had made on the old horn list about Dennis Brain, with whom I had studied in London in the mid-1940s. Gamble told me that he and his co-author were working on a new biography of Brain. From that time on I was often in touch with him as the book progressed. In the final year, I took a more active role, serving as a proofreader for the final draft (before submitting it to the publisher) that was being skillfully edited by Marilyn Bone Kloss, who many of you know as the assistant editor of the Horn Call. In addition, because of my having studied with Brain, the authors asked me to write the Foreword. I was not paid for any of this, nor do I receive any royalties, but obviously, I'm not a completely disinterested observer of the book. However, I am so convinced that "Dennis Brain: A Life in Music" is the new definitive biography of one of the wor ld's greatest hornists, and a must-read for hornists at all levels of proficiency, that I'm taking this opportunity to let you know that the book has finally been published. I think it's a worthy successor to Stephen Pettitt's classic biography of Dennis Brain. _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
