Gaston Hamelin

Gaston Hamelin (27 May 1884 – 8 September 1951) was a French clarinetist and teacher.

Born in Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche, Hamelin won the first prize for clarinet at the Paris Conservatory in 1904 under professor Charles Turban. He was a noted soloist, becoming the first to perform the Première rhapsodie for clarinet by Claude Debussy in 1919; he is also believed to be the first to record that work.[1][2] Hamelin moved to the United States in 1926 to assume the seat of principal clarinetist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He performed with that group from 1926 to 1932,[3] but was reportedly not offered a contract renewal because conductor Serge Koussevitzky disapproved of his practice of playing on a metal Selmer instrument instead of one made of the more traditional grenadilla wood.[2][4][5] One anecdote about his dismissal records that he responded to praise on his performance in a rehearsal by waving his instrument in the air, which "enraged" Koussevitzky.[5]

In the early 1930s Hamelin returned to France, where he was active as a soloist and private teacher.[2] He published his Scale and Exercise Book in Paris. His pedagogical approach was notable for advocating a double-lip embouchure, which was less common than the single-lip variety but was credited with reduced biting and increased fluidity of tone.[2][6] His students included Rosario Mazzeo, Joseph Allard and Ralph McLane. He is known as a founder of the "American" school of clarinet and is credited with having a significant influence on the development of performance practice in the United States.[2]

His son Armand Hamelin, born 1907, played bass clarinet in the Boston Symphony for the last two years of his father's tenure there.[2]

References
  1. Hoffman, Frank (2004). "Woodwind Recordings (Historic)". Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound. CRC Press. p. 1200. ISBN 9780415938358.
  2. Paddock, TL. "Hamelin, Armand" (PDF). A Biographical Dictionary of Twentieth-Century American Clarinetists. p. 135.
  3. Hoeprich, Eric (2008). The Clarinet. Yale University Press. p. 209. ISBN 9780300102826.
  4. Friedland, Sherman (2012-09-20). "Boston, 1931, contract not renewed, and what followed". Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  5. Weston, Pamela (1989). Clarinet Virtuosi of Today. Egom Publishers. p. 201. ISBN 9780905858463.
  6. Britz, JM (2004). A Systematic Approach to Five Clarinet Fundamentals as utilized in Rose's Forty Etudes (PDF) (Ph.D.). University of Texas. p. 9 http://www.lib.utexas.edu/etd/d/2004/britzjm516425/britzjm516425.pdf. Missing or empty |title= (help)
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