“Trumpeter Robert E. Nagel Jr. passed away on Sunday, June 5,” reads an unsigned obituary at the Yale School of Music website. “He is best known as the founder and director of the renowned New York Brass Quintet. In addition to paving the way for brass chamber music, Nagel was an active and highly respected performer as well as a prolific composer…. In 1959, Nagel founded a publishing company, Mentor Music, in an effort to make brass music more available to the public. He leaves a legacy of numerous seminal recordings such as the 1961 recording of L’Histoire Du Soldat (conducted by Igor Stravinsky) and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 (conducted by Pablo Casals). Born on September 29, 1924 in Freehand, Pennsylvania, Nagel … studied composition at Juilliard … and during his summers at Tanglewood, he studied trumpet with George Mager (Boston Symphony) as well as composition with Aaron Copland…. Nagel performed with … the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble … Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival.” He taught at the Yale School of Music from 1957 to 1988, and also taught at New England Conservatory, Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, Hartt School of Music, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Rutgers University.
Posted June 16, 2016
