Neville Marriner (1924 - 2016)
October 2, 2016 9:22 PM   Subscribe

Sir Neville Marriner, the co-founder and long-time conductor of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, has died at age 92. (NYT link)

Mozart — Overture from "The Marriage of Figaro"

From the New York Times obit:
He said becoming a conductor had allowed him to overcome his own shortcomings as a violinist, which he likened to being “like an actor with a speech impediment.” Being a conductor, he explained, allowed him to harness the talents of an entire orchestra.

“What I felt about music I couldn’t express completely,” he said. “When you’re a conductor, virtually, you exploit a lot of very talented musicians. They’re in front of you and you’re taking from them the best that they can offer. So the potential for having a really satisfactory musical experience is greater.”
Beethoven — Grosse Fuge

From a Guardian article from a couple years ago on his 90th birthday:
Even though American violinist Joshua Bell was appointed Academy director in 2011, and other great musicians ... have taken the helm, it will always be the orchestra Marriner founded. “I was in Vancouver recently listening to the radio, and they played a Handel concerto grosso and the presenter said, ‘That was the Academy of you-know-where conducted by you-know-who.’” There’s also a cartoon with a speech bubble coming out of a stereo speaker “…Played now by the orchestra of the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields…” And another speech bubble over a parrot on a perch: “Neville Marriner conducting.”

Marriner is also a classical icon in his own right. The publicity blurb for the 1984 film Amadeus said: “Only two people were qualified to conduct the score.” Below those words were two pictures: one of Mozart in powdered wig, the other of Marriner in white dickie. “One was unavailable,” added the blurb.
Beethoven — Piano Concerto #3

An interview with him and with members of the orchestra. A violinist says: "He's a very warm and very insightful influence. He's like a ship's captain to me. I see him steering us out of trouble. And he's very much with us, one of us."

A recent anecdote:
I am sitting in our favourite Kensington lunch place waiting for Neville when he breezes in, carrying a bulging briefcase that has seen better days.... ‘What’s in the bag, Neville?’ I ask.

‘Oh, a Walton symphony,’ he says.

‘Not really your thing.’

‘Never done it before. Was studying it on the Eurostar this morning.’

‘Neville,’ I exclaim, ‘You’re 90 years old… what are you doing learning new pieces?’

‘Oh, a friend is starting a new orchestra and desperately needed someone to conduct it. I couldn’t really say no.’
Mozart — Symphony #39

The Guardian article notes that when asked to name his favorites out of the over 500 recordings by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the first one he mentioned was "Metamorphosis" by Richard Strauss.
posted by John Cohen (46 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
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Oh my gosh. Listening to Classical NPR as a child, so many, many pieces were introduced as Sir Neville Mariner conducting the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. I’m not able to appreciate this loss fully (though the many links help!) but this was a little piece of my childhood.
posted by Going To Maine at 9:31 PM on October 2, 2016 [13 favorites]


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posted by tzikeh at 9:36 PM on October 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I was lucky enough to attend an Academy of St. Martin in the Fields concert he conducted when I was in college; it was transportative.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:53 PM on October 2, 2016


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posted by evilDoug at 10:05 PM on October 2, 2016


My mom's record collection had a ton of recordings by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Another bit of my childhood gone.

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posted by rtha at 10:25 PM on October 2, 2016


A particular favorite is his version of Ralph Vaughan Williams's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (an easy listen, only about 15 mins long).
posted by praemunire at 11:19 PM on October 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


The lark ascends.
posted by hortense at 11:39 PM on October 2, 2016 [2 favorites]


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posted by adamsc at 11:42 PM on October 2, 2016


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posted by Mister Bijou at 11:53 PM on October 2, 2016


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posted by Standard Orange at 12:09 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by On the Corner at 12:18 AM on October 3, 2016


Giant. He has brought me great joy over the years. RIP.
posted by persona au gratin at 12:59 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by monkey closet at 1:22 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by Coda Tronca at 1:51 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by Coaticass at 2:29 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by talking leaf at 3:03 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by robbyrobs at 4:37 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by Foosnark at 5:28 AM on October 3, 2016


Oh my gosh. Listening to Classical NPR as a child, so many, many pieces were introduced as Sir Neville Mariner conducting the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. I’m not able to appreciate this loss fully (though the many links help!) but this was a little piece of my childhood.

Mine too. I first started listening to classical music on WRFK in Richmond, VA back around 1978 so of course his name was everywhere. Then one day on news/pop music WRVA the call-in trivia question was "Who is Sir Neville Mariner?" and I called in and won and felt all cultured and proud of myself and became a Mariner fan from then on.
posted by JanetLand at 5:29 AM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


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His 1976 Messiah recording is one of my favorite classical pieces.
posted by MtDewd at 6:15 AM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


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He conducted the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields on the Amadeus film soundtrack, which was a huge thing for me when I was a wee kid and just learning about classical music. Those will always be the definitive versions of those pieces for me and also a very big part of my childhood, like Going to Maine and JanetLand.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:22 AM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


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posted by get off of my cloud at 6:59 AM on October 3, 2016


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I have a surprisingly large number of St.Martin recordings. Sad loss. 2016...*sigh*
posted by Thorzdad at 7:43 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by hydropsyche at 7:43 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by allthinky at 8:36 AM on October 3, 2016


His 1976 Messiah recording is one of my favorite classical pieces.

I have five different recordings of Messiah, but this is the only one.

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posted by Melismata at 8:39 AM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


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Canadians of a certain older generation "out there in vacuum-land" (I'm one) who listened to late night CBC Radio may remember Allan McFee playing recordings of the Academy under the direction of "the nifty Neville Mariner". Those broadcasts were my introduction to authentic performance practice. Thank goodness for modern audio recording. RIP Sir Neville.
posted by angiep at 8:57 AM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


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posted by MexicanYenta at 9:51 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by ersatz at 10:18 AM on October 3, 2016


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I really didn't know properly who he was, but on the basis of his Messiah (and a couple others) being in pretty constant rotation in my childhood home, whenever I was selecting a particular recording to listen to, if the choice was between Marriner conducting or someone else, I always chose Marriner.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:17 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by fremen at 11:38 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by jokeefe at 11:58 AM on October 3, 2016


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posted by homunculus at 12:09 PM on October 3, 2016


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posted by TrialByMedia at 1:16 PM on October 3, 2016


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O flute that throbs with the thanksgiving breath
Of convalescents on the shores of death.
O bless the freedom that you never chose.
O trumpets that unguarded children blow
About the fortress of their inner foe.
O wear your tribulation like a rose.
Blessed Cecilia, appear in visions
To all musicians, appear and inspire:
Translated Daughter, come down and startle
Composing mortals with immortal fire. 
posted by clew at 1:35 PM on October 3, 2016


this was a little piece of my childhood

Same here. Growing up listening to NPR & other classical radio, he was everywhere. In fact: I cannot hear his name without the word “ubiquitous” in front of it, and I can’t hear the word “ubiquitous” without thinking of him. My folks always referred to him as “the ubiquitous Neville Marriner” -- maybe from a PDQ Bach joke or New Yorker cartoon? -- and it lodged in my ear as a really lovely phrase long before I knew what “ubiquitous” meant or even what a conductor was. For years I thought “ubiquitous” was spelled “eubiquitous” and meant something like “euphonious.” A happy mishearing, I guess: those performances were both everywhere and beautiful.

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posted by miles per flower at 1:58 PM on October 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


A friend was recording him a few months ago and says he was absolutely on his game, despite being 92. I don't think it is possible to see this as an unjust loss, or anything other than a life as good as one could possibly have hoped for and then a bit more.

And yet.
posted by Devonian at 2:34 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


My father had a lot of early St.Martin-in-the-fields recordings, and felt a little like *he* discovered them. I grew up listening to those recordings, and only now can I appreciate how, back in the early 70s, people still played chamber works with full orchestras and what Neville Marriner did was revolutionary. I never heard him conduct the orchestra, but I did hear Ionia Brown conduct, and it was wonderful to hear works- like Greig's "Holberg Suite"- that you don't hear if you only hear full orchestras.
posted by acrasis at 3:23 PM on October 3, 2016


The first version of the Pachelbel Canon I ever heard. 'Twas on the soundtrack to the Carl Sagan series Cosmos. Life-changing, at least for me.

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posted by dnash at 5:07 PM on October 3, 2016


John Cohen, thanks for this FPP.

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posted by brainwane at 6:59 PM on October 3, 2016 [1 favorite]


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posted by kaiseki at 8:14 PM on October 3, 2016


Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Requiescat in pace.
posted by ob1quixote at 1:48 PM on October 4, 2016


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posted by klausness at 3:01 PM on October 4, 2016


A college professor of mine speculated that Marriner did more for the film version of Amadeus than just provide the music, and I suspect he was right. The scene where Mozart dictates the Requiem is where I learned to hear the different parts. (And apparently Marriner only agreed to provide the music on the condition that none of it be altered for the film.)

I think the first version I ever heard of Vivaldi's Four Seasons was by Marriner and the Academy. And that was one of the pieces that led me to fall in love with classical music.

So thank you for everything, Sir Neville.
posted by pmurray63 at 11:51 PM on October 4, 2016 [2 favorites]


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