Clifford James "Cliff" Bevan (1934 – 26 December 2024) was an English

tubist The tuba has been played since the mid-19th century, in the midst of the Romantic music, Romantic period of Western Classical music. Along with classical music, the instrument appears in a variety of jazz styles as well Film music, film and circus ...

trombonist The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the air column inside the instrument to ...

, organologist, music historian, composer and publisher. He specialised in

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

, including historical low brass instruments such as the

ophicleide The ophicleide ( ) is a family of conical-bore keyed brass instruments invented in early 19th-century France to extend the keyed bugle into the lower range. Of these, the bass ophicleide in eight-foot (8′) C or 9′ B took root over the cour ...

cimbasso The cimbasso ( , ) is a low brass instrument that covers the same range as a tuba or contrabass trombone. First appearing in Italy in the early 19th century as an upright serpent, the term ''cimbasso'' came to denote several instruments that ...

and serpent.

Career

His writing includes nine books, musical compositions, many scholarly articles, and significant contributions to ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', '' Cambridge Companion to Brass Instruments'' and the ''Cambridge Encyclopedia of Brass Instruments''. He co-edited with Craig Kridel the historical instruments section of the '' ITEA Journal'', and his book ''The Tuba Family'', first published in 1978 and expanded in a second edition published in 2000, is considered a standard text about the instrument and its history. Bevan's performance career included pianist and arranger for

The Temperance Seven The Temperance Seven is a British band originally active in the 1950s, specialising in 1920s-style jazz music. They were known for their surreal performances. Career The Temperance Seven was founded at Christmas 1955 by students at the C ...

in the early 1960s, principal tuba of the

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmo ...

1964–1972, freelancing with London orchestras and

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

musicals and shows, and later moving into publishing and arts administration. He was instrumental in the 20th century rediscovery of the serpent and ophicleide, playing with

Christopher Monk Christopher Monk (28 December 1921 – 17 July 1991) was an English musicologist, early music specialist, performer, and musical instrument maker. He was prominent in the mid-20th century revival of interest in Renaissance period wind instrumen ...

's London Serpent Trio, and performing an ophicleide recital at the London

Horniman Museum The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a museum in Forest Hill, London, England. Commissioned in 1898, it opened in 1901 and was designed by Charles Harrison Townsend in the Modern Style. It has displays of anthropology, natural history and music ...

in 1990 which was likely the first full-length recital in the instrument's modern revival. In 2008, the International Tuba Euphonium Association honoured Bevan's contributions by establishing its annual Clifford Bevan Award, for "Meritorious work in low brass scholarship."

Awards

Historic Brass Society Founded in 1988, The Historic Brass Society (HBS) is an international music organization whose goal is to promote the exchange of serious ideas about the history and performance of brass instruments and music, ranging from Antiquity through the twen ...

: Christopher Monk Award, 2008 * ITEA: Lifetime Achievement Award, 2010 *

Galpin Society The Galpin Society was formed in October 1946 to further research into the branch of musicology known as organology, that is the history, construction, development and use of musical instruments. Based in the United Kingdom, it is named after the B ...

: Anthony Baines Prize, 2021

Publications

* ''The Tuba Family''; London:

Faber & Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 1978; Second edition, Winchester: Piccolo Press, 2000 * ''Musical Instrument Collections in the British Isles'', Winchester: Piccolo Press, 1990

References

Bibliography

English musicologists 1934 births 2024 deaths {{UK-music-bio-stub