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RIP George Hurst

September 22, 2012 at 01:48 AM · Sorry to hear that George Hurst has died aged 86. I was lucky enough to play for George on a number of occasions in Bristol and later in Belfast. One of the most under-rated conductors of his generation, I always found George a pleasure to play for. He had an incredible knowledge of the score, and was always meticulous in playing the composer's markings - making a difference between p and pp and f and ff in particular, and also highlighting note lengths. If that makes him sound pedantic, he wasn't. By bringing out the detail, he seemed to give a tremendous insight into the music. And the orchestra always sounded different under George's baton - warmer and with a sense of ensemble rarely found under other conductors. He was also a lovely man - like a number of conductors, he would relax in the pub with his players and was marvellous company. Maybe an insightful anecdote - one night after the pub we finished up in a friend's house for coffee and put on some records. George didn't listen to recordings - his view was "I have the score" and that was obviously all HE needed to hear the music. Our colleague put on a record of the Hoffnung concerts - I don't think I've ever heard anybody laugh so much! It was the first time he'd heard it. I always enjoyed playing for George, and found that everything he said made so much musical sense, that it made it hard playing the same piece for another conductor - how can this guy miss so much? In spite of it being 30 years ago, I can remember so many details of George's rehearsals and concerts as if they were yesterday. And the only other conductor I can say that about is Sir Adrian Boult.

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