In Wednesday’s (4/10) Philadelphia Inquirer, Peter Dobrin writes, “Nolan Miller, 73, of Haddonfield, whose ultrarefined sound led the legendarily blended French horn section of the Philadelphia Orchestra for several decades, died Sunday, April 7, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He had been battling leukemia and died of a stroke, said his wife, Marjorie. Mr. Miller joined the orchestra as coprincipal horn upon graduation from the Curtis Institute of Music in 1965 and assumed the principal horn spot in the 1978-79 season. He retired from the orchestra after four decades, in 2005. His playing was the manifestation of a high-art concept that placed homogeneous sonorities above individualism. It was an ensemble-wide philosophy that for decades helped to make the Philadelphia Sound a unique calling card among the world’s top orchestras. … And yet, his playing attracted attention for an inner glow of intensity without being showy. … Though the horn is an especially treacherous instrument and the job often put him in the spotlight, Mr. Miller—who played a Conn and Paxman, but mostly a classic Prussian Kruspe—approached his work with an air of calm.”
Posted April 10, 2013
