Alfred Hauk |
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Euphonium |
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As far back as I can remember there was music in the Hauk homestead, tucked away in a quaint village near the Baltic Sea in Germany. Father bought our first piano during the uncertain days of WW II.
As by divine providence, a young lady, an unemployed music teacher from the nearby city, visited our farm one day to obtain produce without cost. She did not go away empty-handed, and I had my first piano lesson. After a series of fixed visits and lessons with Fraulein Deutsch, it was I who pedaled weekly eight Km to the city, come rain, come shine. I also taught myself to play the accordion, going on tour with a local folk-dance group to seaside resorts, where we entertained vacationers. Beside playing the accordion, I was the group's photographer, developing my own black-and-white prints. About that time a deacon from the city organized a brass choir in our village. That was my exposure to the euphonium. I learned to love that instrument, but did not have a chance to play again until decades later. After I retired from Harris/RF Communication's Product Design Engineering, a friend, Paul Klett, lent me his instrument one summer. He also talked about a certain old-timer New Horizons Band. Would I be interested in checking it out? I did. The rest is history. Playing in the Symphonic Band is both challenging and rewarding; doubly so being a member of the tuba/euphonium ensemble Brasso Profundo. I hope to continue my music-making as long as I can carry the instrument, which, it seems, gains more and more weight before each new season. |
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