Klarinet Archive - Posting 000462.txt from 2005/06

From: Sean Osborn <feanor33@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] David Breeden's death - Obituary
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 11:56:40 -0400


David Breeden, a musician of elegance and tact who was principal
clarinetist with the San Francisco Symphony for 25 years, died of
complications from multiple myeloma Wednesday at a care center in San
Mateo. He was 58.

Mr. Breeden was known for his lucid and unflamboyant contributions to the
Symphony's performances. His tone was fluid and full-bodied, and he
deployed it with deceptive ease.

There was nothing flashy or demonstrative about Mr. Breeden's playing, and
he often seemed almost uncomfortable in the spotlight. Many of his solo
appearances with the orchestra, including concertos for several instruments
by Mozart, Frank Martin and others, were done together with his colleagues.

Yet his suave, emotionally communicative musical voice was an integral
component of the orchestra's sound for decades. Whether in solo passages or
as part of the full orchestral texture, his playing was marked by
tenderness, strength and clarity.

Music director Michael Tilson Thomas, who first met Mr. Breeden in the late
1960s when they were fellow students in the summer program at the Berkshire
Music Center (now the Tanglewood Music Center) in western Massachusetts,
praised him as "an extremely artistic musician and wonderful man."

"David played with an especially beautiful and floating sound that took us
immediately to the most beautiful part of the music's dream world," Thomas
said. "That sound, as well as the spirit of the man who made that sound, we
will never forget."

Reviewing a 1985 performance of Richard Strauss' Duet-Concertino for
Clarinet and Bassoon, former Chronicle music critic Robert Commanday
praised Mr. Breeden's "tasteful, clear and linear style."

A native of Fort Worth, Texas, Mr. Breeden began his musical studies with
his father, the jazz clarinetist and educator Leon Breeden, and later
earned degrees from the University of North Texas and Catholic University.
He performed for several years with the U.S. Navy Band, touring the country
and performing for dignitaries on the White House lawn before joining the
Symphony in 1972. He was named assistant principal clarinetist in 1979 and
became principal clarinetist a year later.

During his career with the Symphony, he was soloist in concertos by
Stravinsky, Bernstein, Weber and Debussy, and appeared frequently in
chamber programs.

One result of his joining the Symphony was personal rather than
professional: He met his future wife, Barbara, who was then the orchestra's
assistant principal flutist.

She survives him, as do their three children, all musicians: Anne, a
pianist, of Chicago; Mark, a pianist, of Rochester, N.Y.; and Chris, a
percussionist, of San Francisco. Also surviving are his father and his
sister, Vicki Breeden, both of Denton, Texas.

Mr. Breeden taught at Stanford University and the San Francisco
Conservatory of Music. He was an active member of Gloria Dei Lutheran
Church, an avid player of the stock market, and according to his daughter,
the proud possessor of "a fantastic armadillo collection."

Funeral services are planned for 7:30 p.m. Monday at Gloria Dei, 2600
Ralston Ave., Belmont.

www.osbornmusic.com

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