 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: graham
Date: 2002-02-15 12:22
A few threads back the subject of this player was raised and the question was where and what did he perform?
I decided to do some search word surfing and here is what came up:
Joined the US tour by the Philharmonia in 1955 under Karajan, playing fourth and E flat. Bernard Walton played first that time.
Recorded Pierrot Lunaire in 1952. Doubt this is available on CD. Walter Lear plays bass clarinet on this.
Played background music to a "talking book" of Olivier reading extracts from the Bible. That could be quite a novelty I think. Apparently Sony do it on 6 CDs (expensive I imagine) but the company involved suggests it is not available from Sony, hinting they have some left over.
A recording as what seems to be the backing group to Ornette Colman in a live 1965 recording issued by Polydor. Cecil James played bassoon, one of the last french bore bassoonists, wonderful subtlety.
Apparently there is a Fell Clarinet Quartet comprising former students. They played a gig in Peterborough (UK) in July 2001. If they are tuned into this site it would be nice if they had something to add.
That's it. Very little given how well respected the man was. Rather confusing in fact.
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Author: jez
Date: 2002-02-15 13:13
Sidney Fell was principal clar. with the London Symphony Orchestra from after the war till the mid 50s. He recorded with a chamber group called, I think , the Virtuoso Ensemble. He played on the soundtrack of many British films. He premiered a concerto by (again I'm not sure but I think) John Veale.
I'm trying to track down some recordings, so I'll keep you posted when I've got some results.
It is a shame there is not more stuff easily available as he was a fine player and very influential in British clarinetting. Many current pro's are his ex-students
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2002-02-15 19:47
jez,
You are right on the button. The Veale Concerto is dedicated to Sidney Fell, who premiered it on April 4, 1954 with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: alex fell
Date: 2012-08-20 10:39
My father Sidney Fell also premiered a clarinet concerto at the Lincoln Centre New York. Representations had to be made to justify not employing an american. I'm told he was a terrific sight reader. I attended the party after the rerecording of the last movement in London 1966? Present was Tibor Zerli [ ? - I was young at the time - sorry] Joseph Horowitz and the composer Edward Thomas.
I remember he went on tour with the LSO to Toronto and My mother Joan claims to have been the person to give Sir Malcolm Sargent his nickname [Flash Harry shortened to Flash, much loved by all] This may have been around the time of the opening of the Festival Hall which was a wonderful party. He was also on the Radio 3 version of Desert Island Discs.
My earliest musical memory was him rehearsing Peter and the Wolf for a London concert and playing the themes to me. He also played with the Pro Arte Orchestra which not only played with Benny Goodman on TV but also played at the final concert at Fairfield Halls Croydon, of The Nice, a progressive rock band with Keith Emerson an ex Royal CM student, that I used to follow around rock festivals. It was when I ordered the final album and found my father's face on the cover with the orchestra that I gave up on him!Two films I remember him doing the music for were Harry Black and You only Live Twice. He said the press was full of Nancy Sinatra doing the theme but she only turned up for about ten minutes!
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Author: alex fell
Date: 2012-08-20 10:43
p.s. He was also proud but mortified to have knocked a charming man into the rose bushes at Glyndebourne. It was when he helped him up it turned out to be Toscanini.
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Author: alex fell
Date: 2012-08-20 10:52
p.p.s. On a slightly spooky note the day he died I was wondering how he was and Breakfast TV for some inexplicabe reason played the Mozart quintet and I recognised his playing. It turned out to be the time he died. He had a very distinctive pure and unmistakeable tone which really separated the men from the boys. Nothing breathy and woody and perfect intonation.
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Author: cigleris
Date: 2012-08-20 10:59
Alex,
Many thanks for your recollections on your Father. Do you know Antony Lamb? He was a student of your Father's and is currently principal with the ENO orchestra. He will be retiring at the end of the year.
Peter Cigleris
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Author: Red Chair
Date: 2012-08-20 11:59
i believe that Fell also taught among many others the distinguished composer Simon Bainbridge
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2012-08-21 13:39
At the risk of being disrespectful, which is absolutely not my intent, I'm compelled to ask:
Did Mr. Fell ever play with Mr. Kell, and did their playing jell?
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Author: graham
Date: 2012-08-22 12:28
Very interesting indeed.
I think your father also played on Ring of Bright Water. It is a stunning display. Can you confirm?
I once watched an old black & White Alec Guiness film (it may have been "The Card" AKA "The Promoter", but am unsure) which has loads of superb clarinet playing that struck me as possibly being Sid Fell. Again, if you could confirm, that would be good to know.
I have a recording of him playing the Hummell (?) quartet (clarinet and three strings) which is breathtakingly good. He also recorded the Schubert Octet which is mainly good.
I took a couple of lessons from him, and he referred to a recording of his that might come out if he could finish it off, including a premiere. That may be the 1966 recording to which you refer, but I talked to him in 1980, which does not seem consistent, though I believe he had to wrestle with injuries etc in the 1970s.
Do you still have his 1010s?
I shall stop the nosey questions now.
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2012-08-22 20:32
Sidney Fell certainly was the clarinetist of the Virtuoso ensemble (formed in 1949). The only recording I have of him in chamber music is with this group playing Mozart and Beethoven trios (viola / Cello) made in 1958.
According to a conversation I had some years back, I think with Tony Lamb, they went into the studios to do a run through which the engineers recorded and they were then informed that that run through was actually the session so that is what was issued on LP.
Some docs I have seen show Sidney was principal of the LSO 1948 through 1954.
Colin Parr, for 33 years principal at the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, was another of Fell's pupils in the mid/late 1950s.
My impression of Fell's playing was that it was much more in the Thurston camp than the Kell one and since both he and Kell were considered as "principal" players I suspect that they would rarely if ever have played together
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Author: Paula S
Date: 2012-08-22 21:44
Hi Alex,
You must be so proud and although it is sad when anyone has to 'go up' what a way to go! The Mozart or the Brahms quintet would be a glorious send off especially when the person who is 'leaving' is the player and an amazing one at that! My last teacher was a pupil of 'Jack' Thurston and she used to play recordings to me of players she thought were fabulous. We didn't always see eye to eye but we agreed that your father's playing was to die for. She taught me so much and we both used to go all quiet and just be transported somewhere else when listening to your father. How wonderful!
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Author: alex fell
Date: 2012-09-03 07:31
Thank you so much for your responses. I will make enquiries about the questions and get back to you. Alex
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Author: Jack Kissinger
Date: 2012-09-03 11:37
There is a recording of the Thomas Concerto with Sidney Fell and the London Master Virtuosi conducted by Gene Forrell. It is currently in the Naxos Music Library, with the label given as Forte Recording, Ltd. If memory serves, years ago, this recording was available on an LP from the Musical Heritage Society. As I recall, they originally issued it in the early 1980s.
I also have found a note that credits Sidney Fell with the premier of Adrian Cruft's Concertino in 1955.
Best regards,
jnk
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Author: RobinEarle
Date: 2018-07-11 02:13
I suppose the most memorable recording of Sidney Fell in my recollection was the Clarinet Quintet by Matyas Seiber - now more familiar in the Clarinet and String Orchestra.
[Concertino for clarinet and string orchestra (1951; arrangement of the Divertimento for clarinet and string quartet from 1926-1928)]
There was also a BBC documentary narrated by Sidney Fell - I remmber him having to cancel a world tour as his mouthpiece had been severly damaged in a car accident.
One of his friends was clarinettist Walter Lear, one of my teachers. Walter had retired to Herefordshire in his early seventies - returning a year later, suffering from intense boredom, and whilst house hunting stayed with Sidney.
robinearle22@gmail.com
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Author: graham
Date: 2018-07-26 01:31
Referring back to my question about the film The Card, I learnt that it was indeed Fell who plays on it. Can be found on YouTube and well worth it for the clarinet playing. Early 50s.
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Author: JohnP
Date: 2018-07-27 21:40
I’ve a couple of recordings of Sid on an old cassette tape which I’ve just uploaded to YouTube.
The Seiber Divertimento is https://youtu.be/MXB5T3t6Yws
Studio Portrait, a selection of short pieces ending with the Finzi Bagatelles is
https://youtu.be/lkIZgHEzlQc
I think it’s lovely playing, I hope you agree.
John
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2018-07-28 03:34
I have just dipped in to sample the Seiber. A really lovely sound and bright clear technique.
This at a time when quite a few UK pros were to my ears developing a rather thick and turgid sound.
The wheels of tonal taste go round.
Maybe my day will come back
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Author: donald
Date: 2018-07-28 11:55
Thanks for that John Payne, I've just shared it on the ICA NZ page, really lovely playing (so good to hear the Saint Saens being performed with a bit more care and imagination than I've become, sadly, used to!)
dn
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Author: graham
Date: 2018-07-29 22:26
These recordings show just what beautiful, tasteful, and insightful a player Fell was. The tone is complex, and full of variation, but with a subtlety that avoids the sense of rootlessness that some of the more varied playing can suffer from. What a pity there aren't some decent commercial recordings of him. It would be great to hear the parts of the recording he told me had been completed prior to the injury that seems to have put paid to it.
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2018-07-30 01:09
Many thanks for these recordings; it's really nice to hear the man himself after seeing his name mentioned so often. As on other similar occasions, it does leave you tantalised at the thought of the riches that lurk in the BBC archives. I might email radio 3 to ask if they can play the original archive tape of the Seiber - which is an interesting piece, as well as a fine showcase for Fell's artistry.
Although I grew up with the 1010 sound, I often find that recordings from that period disappoint now, and I note a brittleness of tone and poor intonation that passed me by at the time. But no such criticisms for Fell: the sound is clear and powerful, but still satisfyingly warm and smooth - in the Seiber in particular; a little less so in the studio portrait. I hope others might post further recordings.
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Author: jez
Date: 2018-07-31 02:32
Sidney did not play on 1010's until the end of his career.
His instrument of choice was a pair of Martells.
Unfortunately these were destroyed in a car crash and he could not replace them with the same, so started using 1010's.
The bigger disappointment for him was that he lost the mouthpiece he had used all his life. He spent the rest of it searching for one he was as happy with.
He was obsessed with golf and used to relate clarinet techniques to golf all the time in my lessons. Now I've started playing golf myself, I wish I could hear him do it the other way round!
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Author: John Peacock
Date: 2018-07-31 13:39
Jez: very interesting about the Martels. What year was the crash - was it after the recordings posted above (or even between? one was 1963, the other 1968 it seems).
I'm guessing he maybe wasn't in the same car as the clarinets, if they were so comprehensively destroyed but he lived on?
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Author: jez
Date: 2018-07-31 21:07
John,
I first met Sid in 1970 and he was playing 1010's then.
I don't know the date of the car crash, but I had the impression that it had happened a few years before. (presumably his son Alex would know)
The 'Studio Portrait' recording, I think, was definitely on 1010's you can just hear it. I suspect that the previous ones were the Martels.
I believe he was in the car that crashed. He got out but then the car caught fire and everything was destroyed. Again, perhaps Alex could confirm this.
I have many recordings of Sid, including a wonderful performance of the John Ireland Fantasy Sonata and some lovely songs by Vaughn Williams and Arthur Bliss.
He was an inspirational teacher and an incredibly natural musician.
I believe he espoused "Inner Game" techniques before Timothy Gallwey came on the scene. As I've mentioned, he spoke more about golf than the clarinet.
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Author: Penelope Fox
Date: 2018-12-27 20:09
Sidney Fell referred to the loss of his mouthpiece several times in my lessons. If I remember correctly, the crash was in 1965 and that he managed to get out of the car before it went up in flames, with the instruments and mouthpiece inside. I also have an idea it took place on the very new M6 north of Preston, but I may have imagined that.
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Author: elaine
Date: 2021-01-30 20:08
I have my late husband's pair of (possibly) B & H 1010s, bought for him in 1949 second hand.
He studied under Sidney Fell at RCM 1958 - and always aimed to acquire that wonderful full crisp sound Fell produced. Sidney was God to him and was playing Martels at the time although he appreciated the quality of my husband's clarinets
Sadly I may have to sell the clarinets and need advice before doing so.
Can someone get in touch please. i know the music industry has been decimated during the last year and maybe this is not the perfect time to dispose of them but would appreciate input.
Thanks
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Author: graham
Date: 2021-01-31 00:44
Hi Elaine
Perhaps refer to Clarinets Direct ( https://www.clarinetsdirect.net/#/ ). I don’t know how it’s dealing with Covid, but you can presumably wait for more normal times.
I should confirm that, I have bought from them etc. but have no financial involvement and would refuse any commission.
I had a couple of lessons with Fell in the early 80s. Very inspirational.
Graham
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