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boneflyer · Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:04 pm Post subject: Prof Albert Thompson

It was with great sadness that I recently learned of the death of Prof Thompson on 19th October 2006. Anyone who ever came in contact with him could not help but raise a smile. He was a whole-heartedly committed and enthusiastic teacher who inspired a whole generation of RMB trombone players. He lived and breathed music and retained his love of music through good times and bad. He was an undeniably unique character and I doubt that there is anyone who ever met Albert that can't think of an amusing story. Albert retired from teaching and stayed in Deal when the School of Music moved to Portsmouth, but I understand that he still got his trombone out in public from time to time in local groups. I was very fortunate to spend a day with Albert last May, some 5 months before his death, and whilst he was not in the best of health following the loss of his wife, he was still enthusiatic about music and incredibly proud of his trumpet playing son Stephen. Although this is a somewhat late entry on the forum, it is only right to celebrate the significant contribution the Prof Albert Thompson made not just to the trombone section, but also to the RMBS as a whole. It is a truly sad loss. RIP Prof.

admin · Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 8:49 pm Post subject:

Well said!
I will try and lift the obit from the Blue Band when I have time and post it in full on here.
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bootybandy · Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 10:47 pm Post subject:

Albert was indeed a one off, and will be sorely missed by all, not just the Trombonisticians. When I was an instructor in the wing, I remember Albert coming into work on his moped and at stand easy running home because he had forgotten his glasses? A true essentric who lived and breathed music from every pore. RIP Albert........
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admin · Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 8:12 am Post subject:

Professor Albert Thompson 10 September 1929 – 18 October 2006

It was May 1989, and I was stood alone in an incredibly untidy and apparently disorganised office on the top floor of East Barracks, Deal. In front of me was my audition piece that I had been working on for the past few weeks, and clutched in my shaking hands was my trombone. I really did not know what to expect next – all I had been told was to wait for the trombone ‘prof’, and call him ‘Sir’. All of a sudden, the door burst open and in rushed a small middle-aged man carrying wads of ancient manuscript and singing a vaguely familiar snippet from an orchestral symphony. (I later learned that it was the chorale from Brahms’ First, one of Albert’s favourites.) His shining eyes, wild hair and eclectic wardrobe left me in no doubt that this ramshackle office belonged to this man; a belief that was further reinforced when he picked up a battered set of false teeth from the cluttered desk and popped them into his grinning mouth. 'Ah, that’s better”, he said with a wink and a huge smile. Any nerves I had about the imminent audition immediately evaporated.

Albert Thompson was born on 10 September 1929 in Durham. He was the youngest of twelve children, and had a very happy childhood. He would often tell us how devoted his parents were to the children and that they never ‘went without’. During World War II Albert was evacuated to Tintagel in Cornwall; he later adopted the name for the family home in Kingsdown.

After the war, Albert found himself in Manchester, and joined the Besses O’ the Barn brass band. It was during this time that Albert met the love of his life, Joyce, and they soon married. Their first few years of marriage were spent living in London, as Albert was serving with the Grenadier Guards Band as a trombonist. Some nights, when Albert and Joyce would meet up after work, the London smog was so thick that Albert would whistle so that Joyce would know it was him and, from then on, Albert would always be known for his singing.

On leaving the Army, Albert successfully auditioned for the BBC Scottish National Orchestra, and had many happy and eventful years there. During this time Albert and Joyce made many lifelong friends and started their own family with the arrival of their four children; Joanne, David, Steven and Lesley, who were influenced greatly by Albert’s immense love and knowledge of music. The family enjoyed many happy holidays spent fishing, and renovating and improving the family home. One building project involved Albert building a wall around their house to protect the family which, on the day of completion, was destroyed by a lorry!

In 1978 Albert left Scotland to take up his new appointment as Professor of Trombone at the Royal Marines School of Music. Over the next eighteen years until his retirement, Albert would become not only a teacher to so many of us, but also a friend. Some of my best memories involve lessons after the morning stand-easy, when Albert would bound into the room and proceed to tell me about the table tennis match he had just participated in, and how he could never beat Prof Jones! Some of us would visit his house and help him with his latest building project or join him on his boat for fishing trips. BdCSgt Gary Halsey tells the story of one such trip when Albert decided that they had found a good spot, and so told Gary to throw in the anchor. Some time later, Gary realised that they had drifted several miles along the Kent coast, and so Albert told Gary to retrieve the anchor. Gary dutifully began hauling in the rope, only to discover that there was no anchor on the end of it. Albert had forgotten to tie it on. Another incident involved Albert being rescued by a Dutch yacht after getting lost in thick fog without a compass. They landed him in Dover, but with no money or means to get home, Albert then had to be rescued again by the local fishing shop! Countless other anecdotes include Albert ‘losing’ his car at a motorway service station having parked on the opposite side of the carriageway, riding into work on his infamous moped with his helmet on back-to-front, and inadvertently attempting to break into a similar car to his because he had forgotten that he had travelled in that morning on his bike!

By the time of Albert’s retirement when Deal Barracks closed in 1996, he and Joyce were the extremely proud grandparents to six grandchildren, and he would often talk of their musical and sporting achievements. However, in 2003 Albert’s life took the hardest turn of all when he lost his beloved Joyce, his wife of 59 years. Albert fought hard to recover from his terrible loss, but following a heart attack in 2005, it became apparent that a major bypass operation was needed. Albert never recovered from this operation and passed away on 18th October 2006 at the age of 77.

I know that I speak for all of Albert’s ex-pupils when I say that he was genuinely one of a kind, and we all had a tremendous amount of respect and affection for him. His vast knowledge of the orchestral repertoire was second to none, and his contribution to the Royal Marines Band Service’s level of musicianship was immense.
BdSgt Rich Harvey
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Nick B · Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2007 11:00 am Post subject:

I am so sorry to here of the death of Prof. Albert Thompson. I was an instructor at the RMSM Deal whilst He was Trombone Prof.
He was a good man and allways had a smile. He will be sadly missed with fond memories.
My condolences go to all His Family.
R.I.P.
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