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Over the weekend I learned of the passing on Friday of Milan Yancich at the age of 86. A longtime faculty member at Eastman, member of The Rochester Philharmonic, and publisher (Wind Music), his name may not be familiar to some readers, but to those who knew him he has his place in memory for sure. Biographies of Milan Yancich and one of his sons may be found here. While he was not my major professor at Eastman, I did play many concerts with him in the Rochester Philharmonic where I was a frequent extra player. After I graduated from Eastman I took several lessons with him as part of preparation for auditions–approaches he used in those lessons still come up often in lessons I teach–and I also played in a horn quartet with him, Pete Kurau, and Dave Angus when the RPO was on strike. He was a strong player with an amazing high range. After I left Rochester I always enjoyed seeing Milan at workshops.
If you are unfamiliar with his publications, his autobiographical An Orchestra Musican’s Odyssey: A View from the Rear is a great read where he lays out a lot of details of his career plainly, even reproducing the letter that Szell wrote to fire him from the Cleveland Orchestra. I also highly recommend his Practical Guide to French Horn Playing. Quite a bit of the content is unique or presents things in a different manner than that seen in other horn publications. It is where I learned to double tongue, for example.
His son will, I am sure, continue the company he founded with Farkas, Wind Music, for some time, as they developed a number of solid publications. Check out their catalog. If you make a purchase from them, I also highly recommend Farkas, The Art of Musicianship. This book is not read often enough, and is a Wind Music exclusive.
UPDATE: Two quotes from his obituary:
“He practiced every day,” said Mark Yancich of his father. “I woke up to hearing him practice before I went off to school … The horn warmups, the scales coming up through the radiators … He was a great player, but he was also a great teacher. I think that’s where the legacy is.”
Mr. Yancich’s daughter, Nicki, saw him the day before he died and remembers he was practicing his horn.
