User:David Kernow/Norman del Mar

imdb.com

This conductor and horn player has connections with many of the biggest names in music: Was educated by Ralph Vaughan Williams, was appointed by Sir Thomas Beecham as deputy conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and conducted that same orchestra at the Strauss Festival in front of Richard Strauss himself! Has also conducted the English Opera Group, and the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra, as well as being the founder of Chelsea Symphony Orchestra.

nytimes.com

Norman Del Mar, a conductor and an author who specialized in the works of late romantics like Sir Edward Elgar, Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, died on Sunday in a hospital at Bushey, near London. He was 74.

The cause was cancer, said his agent, Caroline Oakes.

Mr. Del Mar was a horn player in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which was founded in 1946 by Sir Thomas Beecham. He became Sir Thomas's assistant, and Sir Thomas arranged his debut as a conductor in 1947.

Mr. Del Mar championed British composers at home and abroad and introduced many composers and works to Britain, including Mahler's Sixth and Ninth Symphonies, Bartok's Violin Concerto No. 1 and Prokofiev's Fourth Symphony.

He was the author of an acclaimed, three-volume work on the life and music of Richard Strauss, the last volume of which appeared in 1972.

Mr. Del Mar, who was professor of conducting at the Royal College of Music in London from 1972 to 1990, made more than 70 recordings, and held honorary doctorates from several universities.

He is survived by his wife, Pauline, and two sons, Robin, a violist with the Royal Philharmonic, and Jonathan, a conductor.

cecilia-uk.org

Music manuscripts, papers and notebooks of the conductor, composer and writer Norman René Del Mar, CBE (1919-1994)

Norman Del Mar's three volume set titled Richard Strauss: A Critical Commentary on His Life and Works, is exhaustive almost to the point of absurdity.

Buried in St Peter’s Churchyard, Limpsfield, Surrey.