Martin Milner

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(17 February 1928 – 21 June 2000) was an English violinist. From 1958 to 1987 he was

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...

of the Hallé Orchestra.

Life

Milner was born in

Bolton Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...

in 1928; his father was a headteacher and organiser of the Bolton Youth Orchestra. He was educated at

Bolton School Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including sixth fo ...

, and went on to study at the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Music a ...

(RMCM), where the violinist

Henry Holst Henry Holst (25 July 1899 – 19 October 1991) was a Danish violinist. In his early career he was leader of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Wilhelm Furtwängler. From the 1930s to the mid-1950s he was based in England, as a soloist and teach ...

was a professor. He also studied in Denmark with

Emil Telmányi Emil Telmányi (22 June 1892 – 13 June 1988) was a Hungarian violinist. Telmányi was born in Arad, Partium, Transylvania, then in the Kingdom of Hungary. In 1911 he gave the Berlin premiere of the Violin Concerto of Sir Edward Elga ...

."Martin Milner"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 27 June 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2020."OSO Soloist: Martin Milner"
Oldham Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 2 November 2020." Music maestro Martin dies at 73"
''

The Bolton News ''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and online every day, it is par ...

'', 24 June 2000. Retrieved 2 November 2020. In 1946 he joined the first violin section of the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

. He subsequently taught at the RMCM; he also had freelance engagements, and led the

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.

Spa Orchestra.

Hallé Orchestra

Milner was chosen in October 1958 by

John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 194 ...

, conductor of

the Hallé The Hallé is an English symphony orchestra based in Manchester, England. It supports a choir, youth choir, youth training choir, children's choir and a youth orchestra, and releases its recordings on its own record label, though it has occasiona ...

, to lead the Manchester-based orchestra. He established a successful relationship with Barbirolli. Barbirolli respected his opinions and musicianship, and during absences on conducting engagements he left Milner detailed instructions for rehearsing particular works. He once wrote to Milner: "You are the finest leader I have ever had in my fairly long career." He remained as leader under Barbirolli's successors

James Loughran James Loughran CBE, DMus., FRNCM, FRSAMD (born 30 June 1931, Glasgow, Scotland) is a conductor. Early life Educated at St Aloysius' College in Glasgow, Loughran conducted at school and afterwards, while studying economics and law. When he s ...

and

Stanisław Skrowaczewski Stanislaw Pawel Stefan Jan Sebastian Skrowaczewski (; October 3, 1923 – February 21, 2017) was a Polish-American classical conductor and composer. Biography Skrowaczewski was born in Lwów, Second Polish Republic (now Lviv, Ukraine). His pa ...

. Milner appeared many times as soloist with the Hallé, playing works including the Elgar Violin Concerto and the Walton Violin Concerto. He retired in 1987, after 29 years as leader. In that year he became an Officer of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

.United Kingdom list:

Family and later years

He was married three times; with his first wife Elizabeth Walton he had three sons and three daughters. With his third wife Diana Wanklyn, principal double-bass player in the Hallé, who survived him, he had three sons. Milner died in 2000, aged 72, at his home in

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are ...

in Manchester, after a long illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milner, Martin 1928 births 2000 deaths People educated at Bolton School 20th-century classical violinists English classical violinists Concertmasters Officers of the Order of the British Empire