{{Short description|British classical horn player (1923–1992)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Neill Sanders | birth_date = {{birth date|1923|11|24|df=y}} | birth_place = | death_date = {{death date and age|1992|04|19|1923|11|24|df=y}} | death_place = | occupation = Classical horn player | organization = {{plainlist| * {{nowrap|London Philharmonic Orchestra}} * BBC Symphony Orchestra * Melos Ensemble * Western Michigan University }} }}
'''Neill Joseph Sanders''' (24 November 1923 – 19 April 1992) was a British horn player, principal horn of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and for 29 years a member of the Melos Ensemble. He was a professor at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan and founded the Fontana Ensemble and the Fontana Concert Society with its summer festival.
== Career ==
Neill Sanders grew up in a musical family. At the age of 16 he was already on a tour with the tenor Richard Tauber. At 18 he played principal horn in the London Symphony Orchestra for a short time. After the war he was principal horn again with the orchestra and also with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He played second horn in the Philharmonia Orchestra for seven years with Dennis Brain.<ref name="Bio">[http://www.sotone.com/108-sanders.htm Sotone Historic Recordings] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100524235901/http://www.sotone.com/108-sanders.htm |date=2010-05-24 }}</ref> They both appeared with The London Wind Players in a Cambridge Summer Festival in 1950.<ref>[http://www.dennisbrain.net/concert50a.html#1950 Dennis Brain] concerts 1950</ref> They also were members of the London Baroque Ensemble, founded and conducted by Karl Haas, and recorded among others Serenades by Dvorak (1951)<ref>[http://www.dennisbrain.net/concert51a.html#1951 Dennis Brain] concerts 1951</ref> and Mozart (1952),<ref>[http://www.dennisbrain.net/concert52.html#1952 Dennis Brain] concerts 1952</ref> Sonatinas for Wind Instruments by C.P.E. Bach, a Partita by Dittersdorf and music by Haydn and Gounod in 1953.<ref>[http://www.dennisbrain.net/concert53.html#1953 Dennis Brain] concerts 1953</ref> The two horn players were featured in a lecture recital on "The Early Horn" on the BBC in 1955.<ref>[http://www.dennisbrain.net/article9e.html Excerpts of BBC Third Programme]</ref> Francis Poulenc wrote an ''Elégie'' for Brain, first performed by Neill Sanders with Poulenc at the piano, in a BBC broadcast on 17 February 1958.<ref>[http://www.mvdaily.com/articles/b/d/dennis-brain.htm Music & Vision]</ref>
=== Melos Ensemble ===
Neill Sanders was a founding member of the Melos Ensemble in 1950 and played with them for 29 years. They participated in premières of numerous works by Benjamin Britten including the War Requiem. The composer conducted the Melos Ensemble in the first performance in Coventry in 1962 and also in the first recording in 1963. Neill was a personal friend of Britten's and played principal horn for the Aldeburgh Festival, taking part in the premiere and first recordings of the church parables, ''Curlew River'', ''The Burning Fiery Furnace'' and ''The Prodigal Son''.<ref>[http://www.gramophone.net/Issue/Page/December%201967/97/756521/BRITTEN.+The+Burning+Fiery+Furnace,+Op.+77. Gramophone Archive] 1967, quote: "There are outstanding solos from Neill Sanders on the horn."</ref>
=== Neill Sanders Mouthpiece ===
He designed a special wide, slightly concave mouthpiece for the instrument, to spread the pressure and to increase endurance. Known as the [https://www.hornmatters.com/2009/09/the-neill-sanders-mouthpiece/ "Neill Sanders Mouthpiece" or the "Neill Sanders Rim"], it was produced into the late 1980s and is still in demand.<ref>John Ericson, 30 September 2009</ref>
=== Teaching in London and Michigan ===
In London he taught many students who became principal horn players. In 1970 he was appointed Professor for Horn at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He also taught as guest professor at Michigan State University.<ref name="Bio" /> On the campus he played in the ''Western Brass Quintet'' (professors of music at the university) the first performance of ''Masques'' by Ramon Zupko (also professor of the university) on 15 February 1974.<ref>[http://www.analogartsensemble.net/2009/05/ramon-zupko-masques-nocturnes-fluxus-ii.html Ramon Zupko]</ref>
=== Fontana Chamber Arts ===
Neill Sanders returned to London every year to play, especially to continue his part in the Melos Ensemble, until 1979.<ref>[http://www.fontanachamberarts.org/?pId=4 Fontana Chamber Arts] History</ref> Then he founded a similar large chamber ensemble in Michigan, the ''Fontana Ensemble'', consisting of a string quintet, a wind quintet, and piano. In 1980 he founded the ''Fontana Concert Society'', and in 1980 six concerts were performed at a first summer festival. He was its Executive and artistic director until his death.<ref>[http://www.americantowns.com/mi/kalamazoo/organization/fontana-chamber-arts American Towns] Fontana Chamber Arts</ref>
In 1993 composer Mark Schultz wrote ''Podunk Lake'' for Amplified Horn Solo for the Fontana Festival in memory of Neill Sanders.<ref>[http://www.hornplanet.com/schultz.html Mark Schultz] The Cyberhorn Museum</ref> The ''Neill Sanders Endowment for New Music Fund'' in the Kalamazoo Community Foundation bears his name.<ref>[http://www.kalfound.org/page23405.cfm Kalamazoo Community Foundation]</ref>
== Recordings ==
His long discography includes many notable recordings with the Melos Ensemble. Some of the Philharmonia horn section recordings, including Haydn's “Hornsignal“ Symphony are included on Sotone CD 103. CD 108 features chamber music with horn, Johannes Brahms ''Trio in E-flat'', Op. 40, Franz Schubert ''Auf dem Strom'' and Robert Schumann ''Adagio und Allegro'', Op. 70.<ref name="Bio" />
Neill Sanders and other classical musicians participated in ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (The Beatles' 1967 studio album).<ref>Thomson, G. 2008. Please Please Me: Sixties British Pop, Inside Out. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-533318-3}}. P. 286</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Neill}} Category:1923 births Category:1992 deaths Category:British classical horn players Category:Western Michigan University faculty Category:20th-century British classical musicians Category:20th-century British musicians Category:Players of the BBC Symphony Orchestra Category:Players of the London Philharmonic Orchestra Category:Players of the London Symphony Orchestra Category:Players of the Philharmonia Orchestra