Maurice Murphy, who died yesterday, is an essential part of the soundtrack to your musical life – even if you don't realise it. Maurice was principal trumpeter of the London Symphony Orchestra for 30 years, from 1977-2007, and you have sung along to his unmistakable, brilliant sound even if you have never knowingly been to the Barbican to hear the LSO in the flesh. It's his trumpet playing you hear blazing over the soundtracks to all six Star Wars films, and it was his playing for John Williams on the first film – his first gig with the orchestra – that made Williams stick with the LSO for his future movies. But Murphy's playing was always cosmic in its splendour, as anyone will know who heard him with the brass section of the LSO in the countless concerts and recordings they made together.

At the LSO site, there's a chance to add your own tribute to his playing, and you can also hear Tommy Pearson's affectionate podcast about Murphy's life, made when he finally retired three years ago, including an interview with the man himself talking about his journey from prodigious teenager, through brass bands and other orchestras, to the job that would define him. There are interviews, too, with Michael Tilson Thomas and John Williams, who describes the "amazing, electrifying moment" when he heard Murphy launch into the opening bars of Star Wars, the sound that created "the voice of a hero".

Orchestral players are so often the unsung geniuses of musical culture, but nobody could mistake Murphy's trumpet playing for anybody else's. The news of his death is a tragedy for trumpet playing and for the LSO; but it's a moment to celebrate the heroism of his indelible contribution to all of our musical lives.