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Lynn Harrell R.I.P.


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O.K., so he wasn't a rocker, but he was an amazing musician, he was a virtuoso on stringed instruments individually made by gifted luthiers including 18th century cellos crafted by Montagnana, Stradivarius, and contemporary luthier Chris Dungey

I always figured Harrell would live into his 80s, but he died suddenly at age 76 this past Monday April 27 with no given cause of death. Left me feeling at loose ends.

A list of Lynn Harrell's accomplishments could make your eyes glaze over; his discography runs into the dozens--if not hundreds--of world-class classical recordings. But rather than struggle to include all the details, I defer to the professionally and sensitively written obituary by NPR.

What's my connection? My brother studied under Lynn when he first joined the faculty at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of music as Cello Artist-in-residence. I remember my brother's excitement and beaming face when he came home from his first lesson with Harrell, when he exclaimed to the family, "I feel like I just had my first cello lesson!" This, after he'd been playing cello for 11 years and had completed a degree in cello performance from the conservatory, including 4 years of lessons from the retired principal cellist of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.

I became a fan as well. I saw/heard him perform twice with the L.A. Philharmonic, guest-conducted and soloed with the National Symphony Orchestra in DC, and soloed twice with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He met me backstage at one of his Seattle Symphony concerts (because he had taught my brother) and he was personable and gracious. He not only autographed my program but even gave me his email address. He was a gentle and kind man who had founded various charities and musical programs.

Rest in peace, Maestro Harrell. You were one of the good ones and will be missed.

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My brother also studied with Harrell when we were at the Aspen Music Festival for a bunch of summers when we were kids. I saw a lot of Harrell performances back then. Big guy, huge hands, made the cello look like a plaything, and unlike other players who tend to err on the side of sweetness he wasn't afraid to use a cutting, aggressive touch that really carried in the big Aspen tent. I didn't have any personal interactions with him, but he seemed like a good guy.

RIP

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23 hours ago, burningyen said:

My brother also studied with Harrell when we were at the Aspen Music Festival for a bunch of summers when we were kids. I saw a lot of Harrell performances back then. Big guy, huge hands, made the cello look like a plaything, and unlike other players who tend to err on the side of sweetness he wasn't afraid to use a cutting, aggressive touch that really carried in the big Aspen tent. I didn't have any personal interactions with him, but he seemed like a good guy.

RIP

I have a neighbor who plays cello, gives lessons, and participates in youth string recitals hosted at another neighbor's house. When we were talking about cellists in general and Harrell in particular, she mentioned that she'd had private lessons from him at Aspen. Harrell had a closer relationship to Aspen than I realized. It turns out that this WaPo obit mentions that his father, opera baritone Mack Harrell, was one of the founders and then the second director of the Aspen Music Festival and School.

I saw him play cello concertos fronting the Seattle Symphony. After the concert, he and Seattle Symphony conductor, Gerard Schwarz, would host a "meet the artists" Q&A for the audience. A frequent question from aspiring cellists was what was a useful and effective developmental practice technique? Harrell's consistent answer or advice was "Practice as loudly as you can." His reasoning was to strengthen your bowing arm and hand, which would give the cellist better control of sound quality and dynamics.

He lived by that. In 1973 I saw him featured at the Los Angeles Performing Arts Center, which is one of the three largest performing arts centers in the United States. A large man, he dwarfed his 1720 Montagnana cello in front of the L.A. Philharmonic, and when he took the solos, his volume technique and strength absolutely filled the auditorium and reverberated throughout the space.

Here's a video of another performance of the same concerto--Haydn's Cello Concerto no.1 in C Major. Listen to his C major scales in the final movement at about 4:45--These scales are played at the very last few inches of the fingerboard, and he plays them really fast. At that position, the strings have to be pressed from about 1/4-to-1/3" above the fingerboard. To get that purity of tone that high up on the fingerboard you have to press really hard on the strings, and I've never heard somebody press that hard, play that fast, and get such a singing purity of tone. I was just a few rows from the stage and I could hear these high scales reverberate throughout the high-ceiling auditorium.

 

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