Nicholas Reader: An appreciation by Robin O’Neill

The Philharmonia was saddened to hear of the passing of Nicholas Reader – Philharmonia contrabassoonist from 1977-1996. Our Principal Bassoonist Robin O’Neill has paid tribute as follows:

Nick was still the contrabassoon player during my first few years in the Philharmonia Orchestra, and playing with him is an experience I treasure to this day.

I first heard him play as a child, attending Philharmonia concerts in the mid-1970s. He performed alongside his legendary colleagues Gwydion Brooke and Ron Waller. Those concerts had a profound effect on me, and even then I was struck by how effortless Nick — and the whole section — made it sound.

A few years later, I played with him for the first time in the old Capital Radio house orchestra, the Wren Orchestra. Nick created the same beautiful, rich carpet of sound: the sostenuto born of flawless breathing technique, the intonation impeccable. He was such a natural musician.

But there was something else, equally important. Nick was a diamond — a man of huge enthusiasms, primarily cricket and cake; a man of such genuine warmth and sincerity that he immediately made me, unproven and green, feel at home. Added to that (and I’m sure he would forgive me for saying so), he had a sense of the ridiculous that bordered on the anarchic, which somehow helped to keep him — and all around him — sane. He was beloved by his colleagues.

After finishing his studies in 1963, Nick joined the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He left in late 1974 to join the Philharmonia, where he remained for twenty years. From 1994 until 2006 he freelanced before moving to the Scottish Borders and taking up his final post with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Nick’s magnificent playing can be heard on numerous Philharmonia recordings and film scores, but my personal favourite is his contribution to the recordings of the complete wind music of Richard Strauss that we made together with London Winds. In that environment — as in so many others — he was absolutely matchless.

Robin O’Neill is Principal Bassoonist of the Philharmonia, and has held the same position with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the English Chamber Orchestra.