Basil Tschaikov composer

Basil Tschaikov was born in London in 1925, the son of Anissim Tschaikov, later a clarinettist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and his wife Lucie Belinfante, whose father had been the second clarinettist and librarian of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.

Tschaikov followed his father in learning the clarinet and joined the Royal College of Music in 1941 where he studied with Frederick Thurston. During his musical career he would go on to perform with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia.

He was also a Professor at the Royal College of Music, where his pupils included Rick Wakeman, and in 1978 he played an instrumental role in the foundation of The National Centre for Orchestral Studies.

In 1987 he co-founded the Music Performance Research Centre, later renamed Music Preserved, with Jon Tolansky to preserve and make available private recordings of classical music, made either off air or at performances, for which no other source exists.

He died on 14 September 2016.