Horn player buys music 'prodigy' £8,500 euphonium
BBCA teenage boy described as a musical "prodigy" has been donated a new £8,500 euphonium by an elderly man with terminal cancer who was "moved to tears" by his playing.
Neythen, 13, from Liskeard, Cornwall, has won the award for the most promising player at the Saltash Music Festival for four consecutive years. He met Brian Routledge, 92, when they played alongside each other in the Saltash Town Band.
The retired police officer, from Horrabridge, Devon, said he "was absolutely amazed listening to him" and he took "immense pleasure" in giving Neythen the instrument made by Dutch manufacturer Adams to develop his talent.
Neythen said the "top-quality" instrument was "a very generous gift".
Neythen plays for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, as well as Bodmin Town Band and St Austell Youth Band.
Routledge said he realised Neythen's potential when they swapped positions in the band: "To suddenly hear a child of that age playing like he did... was a revelation. I couldn't believe it.
"You've heard of these child prodigies? There's one. There's no two ways about that."
Routledge said when his cancer returned "I realised that probably it's beginning of the end".
He said: "I thought: 'Well, Neythen won't want my Yamaha'... and I thought well I'd still like to do something.
"My boys, I have three sons, and they had told to me: 'Dad, we're all well off. For heaven's sake, why don't you spend your money?'"
Routledge said he used to believe the principle it was better to give than to receive was "rubbish, but "at last, I found the pleasure, the immense pleasure it gave me to give this to Neythen".
Neythen said he and Routledge "became quite close friends" when they played in Saltash town band over a few years together.
He said: "It's a very generous gift and it's something that you can't really thank enough for.
"It's a top-grade instrument so it'll last 20, 30, 40 years. It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing... it opens up so many opportunities.
"It sounds much much nicer than my old euphonium because it's made to such a high quality.
"There's a lot of customisation on it, so you can have a brighter sound, you can have a warmer sound, you can have a fuller sound, a richer sound - whatever you want, really."
Neythen took his first brass exam when he was 12, passing his grade eight baritone with distinction and a mark of 92%.
Ross Farr-Semmens, Neythen's music teacher, said: "If you are lucky as a tutor, you might get one student like Neythen in your whole career, and, literally, there is only one Neythen.
"He stands out among everybody and it's just fantastic teaching him."
Neythen said: "When I play music, it just takes my mind off any problems that are going on... and it just helps you relax and just escape from the world really."
