Barrett Hocking

An article published in the Australian Trumpet Guild Journal with the London Symphony Orchestras Principal Trumpeter.

A few months ago Barrett provided article on Rod Franks, one of his teachers at the Royal Academy of Music, London,  for the Australian Trumpet Guild and was published in June 2009.

 

Welcome to the ATG Mr. Franks. It is a pleasure to interview such a highly respected and influential trumpeter.

 

Tell us about your formative education.

Thank you, it is a pleasure to be asked. I started playing when I was six years old in Brass bands in the North of England from the conductor (ex 1928 Black Dyke Mills soprano cornet) of the local band when I went to a local football match and saw the band play, he asked me to come along to rehearsal. I started on bass drum as I was too young to play brass, as I had no front teeth, then I eventually went to a cornet. I finished school a year early when I was fifteen and went to Huddersfield University to study with Maurice Murphy and Philip Jones for four years. I went to the Royal Northern College of Music s a Postgraduate student to continue my studies with Maurice for another two years.

 

Studying for such a long time with Maurice Murphy before sharing the principal chair with him in the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) must have been a surreal situation, can you tell us about this?

Yes is was surreal, as I started off bumping him in all the LSO’s major repertoire which used to be Mahler, Bruckner, Shostakovich and anything big that came up. We shared the chair for twenty years, it was surreal the day Maurice said “your turn to play Mahler V and I’ll bump you”, that was the big one for me. He was incredibly supportive.

 

We used to tease each other with trumpet solos coming up in the orchestra, as we normally marked the parts up with our initials, although sometimes we didn’t. It was then a case of who could push their trumpet away their foot quickest, then the rush to get the trumpet to the face to actually play the solo! It was always good fun with Maurice.

 

Was your family musical in any way, if so how did this influence you to where you have made it to today?

No, my family wasn’t musical. I came from a military background, my mother was in the Airforce and my dad was an officer in the Navy. His musical expertise went as far as playing the mouthorgan to his fellow officers in the mess. With my cornet background he wanted me to be in the Royal Marines band although Maurice disagreed. Maurice told him “I am going to be a trumpet player”, so dad did something that I’ll never forget. He asked Maurice what I needed to do to make it, “he’s going to have to transpose, he’s going to have to ditch the cornet, stick on the trumpet and learn all Mahler, Shostakovich, Bruckner, Stravinsky…”, so my dad made me many mixed tapes with all the repertoire on them for me to learn.

 

 

 

You have spent a lot of time in Brass Bands over the years, what are your thoughts on the world brass band scene today, compared to your time active in the scene.

I think its pretty much still the same as before, there’s three or four bands now that have major sponsorship and they can afford to pay the best players, similar to the football system in Great Britain. But in the days when I joined Black Dyke when I was seventeen I was the first student to join the band and the rest of the band worked in the mill. They all made mohair suits so it was a completely different person in the bands back then. Bandsmen in Manchester co-op and GWS footwear all worked for those companies and Bill Lang (former Principal trumpet LSO) worked in the Black Dyke mill as well as being principal cornet in the band.

 

We have heard of your very serious health complications over the last few years. We see that you have made it to the other side of the woods, this is fantastic news. What are some of that changes you have had to make to your daily routine with the Orchestra, if any?

The operation was on the removal of a brain tumour, which meant I couldn’t walk, had forgotten how to pick a glass of water, and how to play the trumpet. It took me two months before I got my first note out again and two more months before I went back to the orchestra.

 

Once I started playing again my daily routine carried on as normal with the LSO. Three years after the operation in 2002, the epilepsy started to kick in, which usually happens to people with brain injuries. I think I’m on the mend though we’re going to Japan with the orchestra next week. I have done all the tours with them since. On tour I have an alarm on me and if my heart stops during the night it sends a signal to somebody’s room and they come and rescue me!

 

One of the best Mahler V’s I have done was in Carnegie Hall in 2002/3 season, and that was after the operation on the brain tumour.

 

 

Over your career you have had to play in many styles from Pop concerts to Symphonic works. You have obviously fitted the job description for the positions you have held, what classic technique traits do you call upon to succeed in these situations?

You have to learn to fit into your musical environment, i.e. we could be doing jazz with Dave Brubeck or a rock concert with Deep Purple at the Albert hall. I normally listen to the artists before we go into the rehearsal and work out their musical traits i.e. what sort of vibrato they use, or their attack on notes/words. I couldn’t take my cornet playing vibrato into the orchestra, that was levelled out by Philip Jones in Manchester. You need to play really straight and vary your vibrato to the environment and the people you are working with.

 

 

With the LSO being a major recording orchestra, on top of your general concert season, you also do a lot of studio work recording soundtracks for Films. Does your playing attitude change from being in the Barbican to Abbey Road Studios?

No, I don’t think it does. At Abbey road we normally work with three, three-hour sessions, so it’s a lot of blowing in one day. The job at the Barbican has become different now, the LSO used to be closely linked to EMI.  But now we have the ‘LSO live’ albums, so any part of our rehearsal or dress rehearsal can be recorded for patches they may need, so there’s no holding back, ever.

 

 

With your position you tour and travel extensively to all corners of the world, have you ever performed in Australasia?

No, never. I was due to come to Australia in 1975 with Black Dyke but Qantas pulled out of the sponsorship so we didn’t go. I went on a brass band course instead and met my wife; I met her on day one of the course and proposed on day three.

 

Over your career you have played in many world-class brass ensembles including principal chairs in the Black Dyke Mills Band, London Brass, LSO and the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. What are some common elements that all these ensembles share?

Their performance level, Dyke was definitely the best brass band in the world. They had very strict ideas about performance levels, discipline and focus. They were all very confident players. Phillip had surrounded himself with all the best players of the time. Dyke attracted the best players and the LSO does a similar thing although it’s a larger ensemble.

 

During your time as a musician you have obviously played under many famous conductors, who has been you most enjoyable to work with and why?

The most enjoyable to work with has been Bernard Haitink, a calm gentle man when I knew him, but apparently he wasn’t always like that!

 

One of the star conductors for me would have to be Sir George Solti. Leonard Bernstein was a dream because of his musicianship. Ozawa, Abbado and Tilson Thomas are all good for different reasons. Many conductors mellow with age though, I think when they are about fifty or sixty they come to their own.

 

Can you tell us about your association with Yamaha instruments, and how you are involved in the design and development of their trumpets?

I tagged along with Ian Bousfield when he was in the LSO to the Yamaha factory. They used the throw trumpets at me and they were terrible, so I offered to help them out. I was heavily involved on the Yamaha 6335 (Mark II Xeno). I still play my Yamaha that I got twenty years ago, even though the trumpet has progressed on two models since.

 

The mouthpiece I play on, is one I recieved with my first Eb trumpet when I was thirteen, apparently Mr. Schilke designed that mouthpiece and it makes a nice beautiful warm sound. My dad bored it out when I was younger and later we have found out that it’s the same size as Wyntons, so he must of got something right! A few years ago Yamaha created a signature Rod Franks model mouthpiece with exactly the same shape and bore.

 

You have taught at many colleges in London and abroad. What is one thing that keeps a school like the Royal Academy of Music (Brass Department) at the front of their field?

They are constantly looking forward at the bigger picture, how they should differ from other colleges and what puts them at the forefront of their field.

 

The Royal Academy has more guest trumpet players than any other college, you will see the best trumpeters from around the world to come and teach, perform and give classes.

 

If there was one piece of advice you would like to pass onto an aspiring trumpeter, what would it be?

If you believe you can be the best trumpet player in the world, go out and do it. There is absolutely nothing to stop you.

 

Many thanks for your time Mr. Franks. Hope to see you at the ITG conference in Sydney in 2010!