Posted by Andrew on August 25, 2000 at 19:01:15:
Does anyone know of Harry Barlow who died about 1930 acknowledged to be the first British tuba virtuoso? He is mentioned in a pamphlet called "The Easy Way" and in Forsyth's Orchestration. He was in the Halle Orchestra in the early years of the century and was the inspiration behind Elgar's, Holst's and Vaughan Williams' adventurous tuba writing. He was also in the London Symphony Orchestra and the BBCSO. He designed the 'Barlow' series of F tubas built by Besson. These were large instruments with 5 piston valves and did not employ the compensating system. They were the finest F tubas ever built in the UK and subsequently ruined by more recent owners who attempted to hack them into 'standard' tuning-formats. It is a tragedy that these instruments never became available again despite many attempts to persuade Besson/B&H to reintroduce them. Does anyone else have any info on Harry Barlow?