A sad note to make, as tubist Abe Torchinsky died last Tuesday, according to an obituary late last week in the Philadelphia Inquirer. He was 89, and was the Philadelphia Orchestra’s tubist from 1949 to 1972, having been hired by Eugene Ormandy. Torchinsky also played on the famous album of Gabrieli canzonas with the combined brass sections of the orchestras of Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago of 1969.
Torchinsky contributed a reminiscence for the reissued version of the album in my library, from 1996. Here are some excerpts.
“When I walked into the studio that Friday, I hadn’t ever even heard most of the music we were supposed to play. I’m a tuba player: I know Wagner. But we ran through it once or twice, then recorded it. Few of the tracks took more than a couple of takes. We went in, sat down, and had fun.
“After the sessions were over, those of us who were left after the Cleveland guys had gone home went down to a bar on 15th Street called The Brass Rail. We were sitting around having a beer when we realized that we had done the whole record and forgotten to tune our instruments.
“Did I have a sense it was going to be special? No question about it….When I heard the result, I was floored. I know this is going to make me sound like an egomaniac—and I’m not—but people still say to me: ‘Abe Torchinsky! Wow! You’re a legend!’ “
Indeed.