Here are the facts about Dennis Brain.

• Dennis Brain was born in 1921 to a family of horn players.
• His father, two uncles, and his grandfather all played the horn to a very high, professional standard.
• Dennis started to play the horn at his final year at St Paul's school, in 1935.
• It only took him just over a year to master the horn, and he started a professional career after learning the horn for just 15 months.
• At first, he played on a Raoux single F horn (piston valves), then changed to an Alexander single Bb horn (rotary valves) around 1953.
• All through his highly successful career, he gave celebrated performances, such as the Beethoven sonata in 1944.
• Lots of composers wrote works for him, such as Paul Hindemith, Gordon Jacob, and most importantly, Benjamin Britten, who wrote the serenade for horn, tenor and strings for Dennis Brain.
• He was the principal horn of many orchestras, including the National Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Philharmonia Orchestra.
• In total, over his career he made over 120 solo recordings as a professional.
• On September 1st, 1957, Dennis Brain died in a car crash.
• He is now regarded as one of the best horn players there has ever been.

Click here to hear a sample of his Horn Playing

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