HE FRONT COVE
The front cover:
Standing on Big Shoulders – THE LOW BRASS OF THE CHICAGO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
BY PETER C HESTER
In another of the excellent zoom sessions provided in recent months by the International Trombone Association (ITA), 13 June 2021 presented an interview, led by Kevin McManus and Chris Houlding of the ITA, with one of the world’s greatest low brass sections, that of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO). Readers will recall the session, reported in the last edition of The Trombonist, on the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), and the CSO section is of similar repute, with one difference perhaps, that is, that for over more than 30 years, there has been no change of personnel in the section, and of course, that is what has generated and consolidated its character and quality. The LSO low brass achievement was to sustain their brilliance, whilst accommodating a number of different players over 60 or more years. The CSO low brass is notable for the relatively few changes over the same sort of period. For example, Jay Friedman, the Principal Trombone has been with the Orchestra since 1965, for 56 years. Charles Vernon, Bass Trombone has been there 35 years, since 1986. Michael Mulcahy, Second Trombone and Gene Pokorny, Principal Tuba, both joined in 1989, so have notched up 32 years. Behind that achievement, and figuring prominently in the discussion, was the legacy of three other long-serving players of unparalleled distinction: Adolph “Bud” Herseth (1921–2013), Principal Trumpet 1948–2001; Edward Kleinhammer
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(1919–2013), Bass Trombone 1940–1985; and Arnold Jacobs (1915–1998), Principal Tuba 1944–1988. Like the current team, these three gentlemen were towering figures in their field, as orchestral players, as role models and as teachers, and their sustained influence on orchestral brass playing in the USA and beyond has been enormous. As Charlie Vernon said, ‘We’re standing on big shoulders’. Discussion sessions like this are inevitably a collection of memoirs, anecdotes and thoughts about music, playing and individuals. Given the credentials of the current team and the weight of their inheritance, this is a very rich seam of material to be mined. The CSO trombone section has to be one of the most distinguished and erudite group of players anywhere in the world. Each has been honoured in their own right with the prestigious ITA Award; each is a soloist and teacher, and an authority on all aspects of the trombone, yet all subdue that individuality to create that formidable trombone section. To add to that, in Gene Pokorny, they have a colleague playing the tuba who is equally famed and distinguished in his own field. The question of the origins of the ‘Chicago sound’ came very early in the conversation. As to what are the exact elements of that sound, words like ‘power’, ‘precision’, ‘brilliance’ come to mind, but behind that are attitudes and structure that produce the sound.
