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Gregory, Charles

He was an acclaimed horn player and teacher who was the Principal Horn of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1932 and made Chairman of the orchestra after it had gone into liquidation and the players took control in 1939. With the LPO, he made up to 40 recordingsduring the 1930s.

He was later an original member of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble in 1951.  The English composer Malcolm Arnold wrote several works for him including Three Shanties, the recently re-discovered Wind Quintet and the three-movement Concerto No. 1 for Horn and Orchestra for him, which he premiered with the LPO at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on 8thDecember 1946.  A previous work by Malcolm Arnold, which is also thought was intended for Charles Gregory, was the 1944 Burlesque for Horn and Orchestra.

Making many premiere recordings, he appeared under Benjamin Britten’s leadership on his opera The Turn of the Screw.  His recordings that have been released on CD include Vintage Beecham with the LPO and The 20th Century Album and Greatest Hits with the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble .

He led several wind ensembles and was a teacher at the Royal Academy of Music in the 1950s.  He gave everything up after many years and bought a hotel in Cornwall.

Here is Sir Thomas Beecham introducing and leading the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1932…