Alan Ray Hacker (30 September 1938 – 16 April 2012) was an English
clarinettist, conductor, and music professor.
Biography
He was born in
Dorking,
Surrey in 1938, the son of Kenneth and Sybil Hacker.
[''Who’s Who 1975'', page 1302, (A&C Black: London)] After attending
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...
(from 1950 to 1955, under
Stanley Wilson until the end of 1953), he went on to study at the
Royal Academy of Music where he won the Dove Prize and the Boise Travelling Scholarship which he used to study in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
,
Bayreuth and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
In 1958 he joined the
London Philharmonic Orchestra.
He became a professor of the
Royal Academy of Music in 1960 and went on to found the ''
Pierrot Players
The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987.
The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and Stephen Pruslin.''Who’s Who 1975'', page 13 ...
'' in 1965 along with American pianist
Stephen Pruslin and
Harrison Birtwistle
Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...
. In 1966, a thrombosis on his spinal column caused permanent
paraplegia.
For the rest of his life he used a wheelchair and drove
adapted
In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the po ...
cars. In 1972, the Pierrot Players renamed themselves the ''
Fires of London
The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987.
The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and Stephen Pruslin.''Who’s Who 1975'', page 13 ...
'', and Hacker continued to perform with them until 1976.
In 1971, he founded his own group, ''Matrix''.
He was also appointed chairman of the
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
Music section and of the British section of the
International Society for Contemporary Music
The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music.
The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following th ...
. He was one of those credited with reviving the
basset clarinet
, french: clarinette de basset; it, clarinetto di bassetto;
, classification = Aerophon, clarinet-family
, hornbostel_sachs =
, hornbostel_sachs_desc =
, inventors = Theodor Lotz and others
, developed = aroun ...
, and in 1967, he restored the original text of
Mozart's Concerto and Quintet. He played them on an instrument modelled on that for which Mozart originally wrote them, the Stadler's extended
basset clarinet
, french: clarinette de basset; it, clarinetto di bassetto;
, classification = Aerophon, clarinet-family
, hornbostel_sachs =
, hornbostel_sachs_desc =
, inventors = Theodor Lotz and others
, developed = aroun ...
.
Hacker also founded the ''Music Party'' in 1972, an organisation set up for the authentic performance of classical music. The later establishment of the ''Classical Orchestra'' in
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
was also a vehicle which promoted the performances of the classics on original instruments. Hacker also branched out into conducting opera, where he led performances of works from Monteverdi's ''Ulisse'' to Birtwistle's ''The Io Passion''.
In the 1972–1973 academic year he became the Sir
Robert Mayer lecturer at
Leeds University
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, ...
.
In 1976 he was appointed lecturer in music at the
University of York and went on to hold a post of senior lecturer between 1984 and 1987.
Hacker was awarded the
OBE for his services to music in 1988. In 1994, he was a guest on
Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usua ...
.
Personal life
Hacker was married three times. In 1959, he married Anna Maria Sroka, with whom he had two daughters, Katy and Sophie. His second marriage, to Karen Wynne Evans in 1976, produced a son, Alcuin. His third wife, Margaret Lee, survives him, as do his children and first two wives.
Publications
*''Scores of Mozart Concerto and Quintet'' – 1972
*''1st ed. of reconstructed Mozart Concerto'' – 1973
See also
*
List of clarinetists
This article lists notable musicians who have played the clarinet.
Classical clarinetists
* Laver Bariu
* Ernest Ačkun
* Luís Afonso
* Cristiano Alves
* Michel Arrignon
* Dimitri Ashkenazy
* Kinan Azmeh
* Alexander Bader
* Carl Baermann ...
References
External links
Alan Hacker, ''Desert Island Discs'', 17 April 1994
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hacker, Alan Ray
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
1938 births
British classical clarinetists
People educated at Dulwich College
Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music
2012 deaths
Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
Academics of the University of York
20th-century classical musicians