Alan Ray Hacker (30 September 1938 – 16 April 2012) was an English

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

tist, conductor, and music professor.

Biography

He was born in

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

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 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

(from 1950 to 1955, under Stanley Wilson until the end of 1953), he went on to study at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

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, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Bayreuth Bayreuth ( or ; High Franconian German, Upper Franconian: Bareid, ) is a Town#Germany, town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtel Mountains. The town's roots date back to 11 ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In 1958 he joined the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

. He became a professor of the

in 1960 and went on to found the '' Pierrot Players'' in 1965 along with American pianist

Stephen Pruslin Stephen Lawrence Pruslin (16 April 1940 – 25 September 2022) was an American pianist and librettist who relocated to London in the 1970s to work with Peter Maxwell Davies and Harrison Birtwistle. Early life and career Born in New York, 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 Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

. 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 p ...

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 modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

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 the ...

. He was one of those credited with reviving the

basset clarinet The basset clarinet is member of the clarinet family similar to the usual soprano clarinet but longer and with additional keys to enable playing several additional lower notes. Typically a basset clarinet has keywork going to a low (written) C o ...

, and in 1967, he restored the original text of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's Concerto and Quintet. He played them on an instrument modelled on that for which Mozart originally wrote them, the Stadler's extended

. 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 in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

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 The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

. In 1976 he was appointed lecturer in music at the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

and went on to hold a post of senior lecturer between 1984 and 1987. Hacker was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

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 audio recordin ...

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

References

External links

Alan Hacker, ''Desert Island Discs'', 17 April 1994
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hacker, Alan 1938 births 2012 deaths 20th-century British classical musicians Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of York Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music English classical clarinetists Fellows of the Royal Academy of Music Musicians from Surrey Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Dulwich College Entertainers from Dorking Players of the London Philharmonic Orchestra British wheelchair users