Christopher Ball (7 July 1936 – 7 April 2022) was a British

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, arranger,

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

and recorder player.

Early life and education

Ball was born in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in 1936. His father had trained in piano tuning and his mother was an amateur pianist. Ball attended Roundhay School and was taught clarinet by Michael Saxton. He studied clarinet as well as piano at the

Royal Manchester College of Music The Royal Manchester College of Music (RMCM) was a tertiary level conservatoire in Manchester, north-west England. It was founded in 1893 by the German-born conductor Sir Charles Hallé in 1893. In 1972, the Royal Manchester College of Mu ...

(now the

Royal Northern College of Music The Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) is a conservatoire located in Manchester, England. It is one of four conservatoires associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. In addition to being a centre of music education ...

), where his clarinet teacher was with Norman MacDonald, and then continued his studies of the instrument at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

with the clarinetists Jack Brymer, Reginald Kell and Gervase de Peyer.John Turner (summer 2005). The Recorder Music of Christopher Ball, Part 1. ''Recorder Magazine'' 25 (2); 43 He also studied conducting with Maurice Miles. After winning a Gulbenkian Scholarship at the

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

, he took part in conducting masterclasses with

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1 ...

, Constantin Silvestri, Sir Charles Mackerras,

Norman Del Mar Norman René Del Mar Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (31 July 19196 February 1994) was an English Conductor (music), conductor, horn player, and biographer. As a conductor, he specialised in the music of late romantic composers; ...

and Sir Georg Solti (whose masterclass was televised), and won the Guildhall School's Ricordi Conducting Prize.

Career

Conductor and performer

Ball began his career freelancing as an orchestral clarinetist in the Halle Orchestra under Sir John Barbirolli, while still a student at the Royal Manchester College of Music. In 1964 he became an apprentice conductor of the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra (now the

BBC Philharmonic Orchestra The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...

) and then assistant conductor of the

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

. He was one of several conductors of the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

, Covent Garden (1968–70).Robert Markow (1 May 2010). A Conversation with Christopher Ball. ''

Fanfare A fanfare (or fanfarade or flourish) is a short musical flourish which is typically played by trumpets (including fanfare trumpets), French horns or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is a "brief improvised introdu ...

'' In 1971 Ball founded the Praetorius Consort, an early music ensemble, which he directed. The consort performed at the

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

and elsewhere in London as well as at festivals in Europe during the 1970s. It made recordings for EMI, BBC Records and Decca, including ''Medieval Paris: Music of the City''. In 1973 he founded the London Baroque Trio, performing on recorder with Mary Verney (harpsichord) and Peter Vel (bass viol). They made their Wigmore Hall debut in 1974; Joan Chissell, in a review for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', praised Ball's playing for its "cooing tone and agility", writing that he "almost transcended the treble recorder's limitations". He played a Bressan treble recorder dated around 1710.

Academic

Ball was a professor of clarinet and recorder at the Royal Academy of Music for 41 years. His notable students include the clarinetist Leslie Craven.Thomas Hancox (September 2007). New faces: Adam Walker. ''Pan: The Flute Magazine'' 37–41

Composer

In 1981 Ball began a ten-year association with the BBC Midland Radio Orchestra, during which the BBC commissioned many light orchestral compositions and arrangements from him. These include ''A Summer Day'', one of Ball's earliest compositions, which has been broadcast more than a hundred times.R. James Tobin (2012)
CD Review: Christopher Ball Concertos
Classical Net (accessed 17 April 2022) From the mid-1990s Ball concentrated on composing.Robert Markow (January/February 2010). Ball ''Violin Concerto''. 5 ''Bagatelles''. ''From the Hebrides''. ''Celtic Twilight''. Christopher Ball, cond; Thomas Gould (vn); Paul Arden-Taylor (ob, Eh, rcr); Leslie Craven (c); Celia Birkinshaw (bn); Emerald Concert O. OMNIBUS 5003 (74:40)''

'' Starting with a recorder concerto entitled ''The Piper of Dreams'' (1995), he wrote a total of nine concertos for various instruments: oboe, Jack Sullivan (November/December 1999). Ball: Recorder Concerto; Oboe Concerto; Scenes from a Comedy; Pagan Piper; Pan Overheard. ''

American Record Guide The ''American Record Guide'' (''ARG'') is a classical music magazine. It has reviewed classical music recordings since 1935. History and profile The magazine was founded by Peter Hugh Reed in May 1935 as the ''American Music Lover''. It chan ...

'' 62 (6): 89 clarinet (2006), flute,Julian Coward (March 2007). Reviews: CDs: ''Something Old. Something Borrowed, Something New''. Jacob and Molly Roseman (flute and piano) / The Jennings-Johnson Duo. Concertartistsguild / Christopher Ball: Works featuring wind instruments, with Leslie Craven (Clarinet), Adam Walker (flute). Quantum QM 7040. ''Pan: The Flute Magazine'' 53–54 French horn, cor anglais (English horn), violin, and two for cello (dedicated to the Croatian cellist

Stjepan Hauser Stjepan Hauser (; born 15 June 1986), known professionally as HAUSER, is a Croatian cellist. He was a member of 2Cellos, 2CELLOS, along with Luka Šulić, and continues to perform solo. Early life and musical training Hauser was born in Pula, ...

of 2Cellos; the first dated 2010). His other recorded works include a Clarinet Quintet, ''Caprice on a Baroque Theme'', the wind quintet ''Scenes From A Comedy'', and ''Invocations of Pan''. He also wrote multiple works for solo recorder and various recorder ensembles.Recorder Music by Christopher Ball
''Recorder Magazine'' (accessed 17 April 2022); quotes from reviews in '' Classic FM Magazine'', ''Classical Record Reviews'' and ''Recorder Magazine'' Stephen H. Smith, in a recent book on 20th-century English composers, describes Ball's work as in the "tonal, easy-listening tradition".

Alan Titchmarsh Alan Fred Titchmarsh (born 2 May 1949) is an English gardener, broadcaster and writer. After working as a professional gardener and a horticultural journalist, he became a radio and television presenter and a novelist. Early career Alan Fred T ...

describes Ball as an "accomplished contemporary composer" and praises his arrangement, ''The Lark in the Clear Air''. Jack Sullivan, in a review for ''

'', describes Ball's concertos for wind instruments as "unremittingly pleasant", describing them as avoiding all dissonance and characterised by a "benevolent eclecticism that gives an amiable nod to the least forced moments in 20th Century music". Andrew Achenbach, in a critical review of two recordings for ''

Gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...

'', found the Cello Concerto no. 1 overlong, and described it and the concertos for horn and oboe as being written in an "innocuously tuneful, wanly pastoral idiom stifling in its timidity".Andrew Achenbach (July 2012)
Concertos from clarinetist, conductor and composer Christopher Ball
''

'' (accessed 17 April 2022) Ball died on 7 April 2022 at

Denville Hall Denville Hall is a historic building in Northwood, a town in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, which is used as a retirement home for professional actors, actresses and members of other theatrical professions. The present building in ...

.Christopher Ball: Composer – Conductor – Recorder soloist – Photographer
(accessed 17 April 2022)

References

External links

Personal Website

Christopher Ball's Recordings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ball, Christopher 1936 births 2022 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music English classical clarinetists English composers English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) Musicians from Leeds Alumni of the Royal Manchester College of Music 21st-century British conductors (music) 21st-century British clarinetists 21st-century British male musicians