Apart from the work of Robert Faulkner, a sociological analysis of the studio music industry, a short labor tract by Jon Burlingame entitled For the Record: The Struggle and Ultimate Political Rise of American Recording Musicians Within Their Labor Movement, and Don Christlieb's Recollections of a First Chair Bassoonist, there is almost nothing in print regarding the many fine recording musicians who have worked in the Los Angeles film studios. No group of musicians has had such widespread exposure before the American public and at the same time toiled so anonymously. The relative commercial importance of these studio musicians compared to symphonic musicians can be judged by their salaries, which frequently exceed that of any symphony orchestra member. Their contribution to the American film industry has been immense. John Williams said of these recording musicians, "They are truly among the greatest contributors to our country's artistic life."¹ This, however, has not prevented them from being largely overlooked by film historians.

The time frame selected for this history of horn² playing in Los Angeles begins with the early records of theater orchestras that accompanied silent film and the arrival of Alfred Brain in 1923. It concludes with the somewhat more arbitrary date of 1970 which coincides with the end of the first full decade of freelancing, during which the present system of hiring was established. Because there is very little written about the Los Angeles studio musicians, The History of Horn Playing in Los Angeles from 1920 to 1970 relies largely on recent oral history as the basis of its source material. The present closure of the Musician's Local 47 archives has made the collection and confirmation of names and dates regarding who was under contract to which studios problematic if not impossible. Until those archives are reopened, a precise accounting will have to wait.

Since this dissertation focuses on studio horn players in particular, interviews from some of the most prominent horn players of their era make up the bulk of the source material used. It is my contention, although it is not the main point of this history, that the studio horn players in Los Angeles have an extraordinary legacy surpassing their other instrumental colleagues. In August of 1997 and May of 1998, I interviewed five prominent horn players about their recollections of musical life in Los Angeles: Jack Cave, James Decker, Vincent de Rosa, George Hyde, and Gale Robinson. Because all of these men are in their seventies and eighties their oral histories will be an important historical record for future use. The following is a brief biographical introduction to the men who have provided the major underpinning for this paper.

Jack Cave began his career at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios in December of 1932 and continued to play principal horn at MGM - even after the contract orchestras disbanded in 1958 - until his retirement in 1971. His tenure at MGM is by far the longest of any horn player at any single studio. His career spanned more than four decades and included a considerable amount of freelance work, in addition to his duties at MGM.

James Decker played horn in the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, California Chamber Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, Columbia Symphony 1960-1966 recordings with Stravinsky-Craft, Disney studios, Columbia studios, Twentieth Century-Fox, and CBS studios. He has had a long association with the University of Southern California, both as a studio teacher and professor of the horn master class. He also taught at the Academy of the West for many years and has been a clinician at many International Horn Society gatherings.

Vincent de Rosa's career began in the late 1930s as a teenager. He would later define what has often been called the "West Coast style" of horn playing and dominate the recording industry as did no one before, exercising a near monopoly as the first-call studio hornist from 1958 through the 1980s. He played briefly in the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Alfred Brain and in other local symphonies, but spent the vast majority of his career recording. He was at Twentieth Century-Fox studios during many of the contract years. De Rosa too has had a long association with the University of Southern California as a studio teacher.

Gale Robinson played horn with the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, MGM studios, and Twentieth Century-Fox studios in addition to many years as a studio freelance musician. He taught at the University of California at Long Beach.

George Hyde played at Twentieth Century-Fox studios, Universal studios, and Warner Brothers studios. Hyde was active in live music as well, often playing second horn to James Decker. A composition student of both Ingolf Dahl and Halsey Stevens at the University of Southern California, Hyde has written numerous compositions for horn ensembles and the Los Angeles Horn Club.