He joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1941, initially as second flute, and played with them until 1950 and again from 1961 to 1970,[1] under such conductors as Henry Wood and Wilhelm Furtwängler.[7] He was one of the founding members of the Melos Ensemble,[8] principal flautist of the English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) until the 1970s when he was succeeded by William Bennett,[9][10] and also regularly performed as a soloist. Malcolm Arnold composed a Divertimento for Flute, Oboe and Clarinet for him and other particular friends. Richard Adeney, Sidney Sutcliffe and Stephen Waters gave the work its first performance in 1952.[11] In 1954 Malcolm Arnold wrote a Concerto for Flute and Strings for his friend,[12] who recorded it in 1979, together with the concerto for flute and orchestra (1972).[13][14]
Richard Adeney was closely associated with Benjamin Britten, and performed in many performances and recordings of the composer's works, notably in 1962 with the Melos Ensemble in the premiere and recording of the War Requiem that Britten conducted himself. He participated in the premiere and first recording of Britten's Curlew River in 1964.[15] He recalled: "Curlew River had more rehearsal time than any other new work that I have ever played".[16] In 1967 he participated in a concert in the Royal Albert Hall including Britten's The Burning Fiery Furnace.[17]
A concert to celebrate his life was held on 6 May 2011[25] including performances by his colleague William Bennett.
Career outside music
Richard Adeney has also been a teacher. In 1948 he was teaching courses of the first Bath Assembly (later called Bath International Music Festival).[26] He contributed to the biography of Malcolm Arnold[27] and is the author of flute, his autobiography. A sample provided by the publisher refers to working with Koussevitzky on the Symphony No. 4 by Brahms, musing on the state of mind of the player in the performance.[4] Richard Adeney has also been a photographer whose photos appear on record covers and illustrate his autobiography[6] and other books.[28] One of his pictures showing Britten and the harpist Ellis appears in the Britten-Pears Foundation pages.[29] For twenty-five years he was a volunteer with The Samaritans.[7]
^ abreview of flute Ralph Blumenau, quote: pretty well every great musician is there. The book is illustrated with many superb photographs of these artists, many of them taken by Adeney himself.
^Interview William BennettArchived 10 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Rodney Newton, quote: Geoffrey Gilbert and Richard Adeney were the players I was fascinated by. Richard, because he had colours that nobody else made on the flute.
^Flute Concerto in Malcolm Arnold biography[permanent dead link] quote: Arnold long held that music was "a social act of communication among people, a gesture of friendship, the strongest there is", and his concertos were nearly always written for specific soloists who also happened to be his personal friends. ... Concerto for Flute and Strings (for Richard Adeney, 1954)
^ abRecording of Malcolm Arnold flute concertos review: Rob Barnett, November 2006, quote: "They were both written for Richard Adeney; one in 1954; the other at his insistence in 1972. By the way Adeney was also the dedicatee of the Flute Sonatina. ... You can hear Adeney in both concertos on EMI Classics 0946 3 70563 2 5 only recently (2006) reissued. ... There’s little between Adeney and Jones though in the Second Concerto I thought Adeney was a shade more soulful.
^Interview Malcolm Arnold quote: "but of course Richard Adeney was a wonderful exponent of both my flute concertos"