Civil, Alan

Alan Civil was born in a family of hereditary brass performers. He began to study music at the age of 9. After the outbreak of World War II , as a teenager, he began to play the horn in the Royal Military Brass Band. At the same time, he began to take lessons from the famous horn player Aubrey Brain , the father of the famous Dennis Brain . Later, he also studied for a while in Germany.

After completing military service, he became an artist in the French Horn group of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra , whose soloist at that time was Dennis Brain. After Brain left the London Philharmonic Orchestra , Alan Civil took his place. In 1955, Civil also moved to the Philharmonic, and after the tragic death of Brain in 1957, he became the soloist of this orchestra. In the 1960s , he became the first foreigner invited to work at the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra . However, Civil did not accept their offer and chose to stay at the Philharmonic. In 1966, he became a soloist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra , in which he spent more than 20 years before retiring in 1988 .

In addition to working in leading London orchestras, Alan Civil gave a lot of concerts as a soloist, as well as a chamber musician in various ensembles. He also taught French horn at the Royal College of Music . Civil is the author of a number of works for ensembles of horns and other wind instruments. In 1979, he became the first president of the British Horn Society . In 1985, Alan Civil was awarded the Order of the British Empire .

Alan Civil has gained some fame among fans of rock music, having twice participated as a session musician in the recordings of the Beatles . His French horn solo can be heard on the song “ For No One ” from the album “ Revolver ”. Recalling this collaboration, Paul McCartney spoke of Civil with great respect and even called him a great musician. Ringo Starr also praised his professionalism. The second time he collaborated with The Beatles by taking part in the recording of A Day in the Life as part of a large symphony orchestra.

• Dance Suite for the Brass Quintet
• Suite for Two French Horns
• Suite for a trio of woodwinds ( flute , oboe , clarinet )
• Sonata for French Horn and Piano
• Five miniatures for quintet of wind instruments ( flute , oboe , clarinet , horn , bassoon )
• Horn Bluff for eight horns and tuba
• Hiroshi-Rushi for pipe quartet
• Divertissement for quartet of trombones
• Skirmish for clarinet and piano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart :

• 4 concerts for horn and orchestra; Alan Civil, Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Otto Klemperer

Francis Poolenc :

• Sonata for French Horn, Trumpet and Trombone ; Alan Civil (French horn), John Wilbraham (trumpet), John Iveson (trombone)
• Elegy for French Horn and Piano; Alan Civil (French horn), Jacques Fevrier (piano)

Richard Strauss :

• Concert for horn and orchestra No. 1 ; Alan Civil, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rudolf Kempe

• Alan Civil on the website of the International Society of French Hornists
• About Alan Civil in “THE BEATLES Anthology” (Russian)
• Obituary in The Daily Telegraph