US Edition MARTIN MILNER, who has died aged 72, was the longest-serving leader of the Hallé Orchestra, occupying the first violinist's chair from 1958 to 1987. For the first 12 years the conductor was Sir John Barbirolli, who appointed Milner and later described him as "the finest leader I have known in a fairly long career".
Their relationship, almost like father and son, was sometimes tempestuous when Barbirolli's Latin temperament clashed with Milner's phlegmatic Lancastrian outlook. After one such clash, when peace was restored, Sir John remarked: "You know how to handle me, don't you?" The foundation of their partnership was a mutual respect for each other's musicianship in addition to personal affection.
In 1963, when Barbirolli was awarded the Hallé Concerts Society's Gold Medal for 20 years' continuous service, he asked that it should be presented to him by Milner. In his speech on that occasion, Milner paid a violinist's compliment to his "boss" - "You are a Kreisler among conductors." They were happy to reverse roles for chamber music with the King's Lynn Ensemble when Milner was the leader and Barbirolli the cellist.
Martin Milner was born at Bolton on February 17 1928. His father was a respected local musician who conducted a small orchestra. Martin won a Bolton Education Committee scholarship to the Royal Manchester College of Music. In his first year there, 1943, he heard Barbirolli, then newly arrived in Manchester from New York, give the address to students on the college's 50th anniversary.
Milner was a pupil of Henry Holst and in 1946 played the first movements of concertos by Elgar and Prokofiev at college concerts. In 1958 he was appointed to the teaching staff but resigned on his appointment later that year as Hallé leader. After graduating from the RMCM, Milner played for a time in Beecham's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and also in an orchestra at Weston-super-Mare.
He had played concertos in Manchester with a semi-professional orchestra, but his appointment to succeed Laurance Turner with the Hallé at the start of its 101st season was a surprise. Milner's slightly flamboyant platform manner was a marked contrast to the dapper, solicitor-like Turner. Luckily, his playing of orchestral solos, such as that in the Dream Interlude of Elgar's Falstaff is preserved on disc.
The demanding concerto-like passages in Strauss's Ein Heldenleben and the ethereal solos in Mahler's Ninth Symphony remain only in the memories of those who heard them. So, too, does his superb playing of concertos by Elgar, Bartók, Nielson and Walton (whose niece Elizabeth became his first wife in 1951), and of new works by John McCabe and David Ellis.
But a leader's job is more than playing solos and it was here that Milner was exceptional. He assisted Barbirolli in auditioning players and when Sir John was away Milner would receive lengthy instructions from him about rehearsing Mahler on his return and about auditions. Milner was a warm personality and a strong leader (he was also a good snooker player).
After Barbirolli's death he continued for 17 years with two further conductors-in-chief but was never as close to them. In retirement, Milner was in demand as a speaker at music clubs, where his anecdotes, told in his ripe Bolton accent, were much appreciated. Three years ago he had a severe stroke which put him into a wheelchair and affected his speech. His last public appearance in Manchester was last December during celebrations of Barbirolli's centenary.
He was in the audience at the Bridgewater Hall for a symposium about the conductor at which Daniel Barenboim, unaware that Milner was present, recalled his experiences as guest conductor of the Hallé in the 1960s. Barenboim referred to Milner as "one of the most consummate leaders of the string section I have come across anywhere.
His knowledge and his help in the music-making went far beyond his playing the violin." On being told a few minutes later that Milner was there, Barenboim left the platform to greet him as the audience rose to its feet. Milner was appointed OBE in 1988.
He was three times married. He and Elizabeth Walton had three sons and three daughters. They were divorced in 1973. After a second marriage, to Margaret Rowley, was dissolved, he married, in 1984, Diana Wanklyn, the Hallé's principal double-bass player; they had three sons.