Christopher John Magenis Headington (28 April 1930 – 19 March 1996) was an English composer, pianist, musicologist, and music critic.

Early life and education

Born in London, he was educated at

Taunton School Taunton School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, now co-educational, in the county town of Taunton in Somerset in South West England. It serves boarding and day-school pupils from the ages of 13 to 18. The current headmaster i ...

and was a Scholar of 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 ...

. He studied with Sir

Lennox Berkeley Sir Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley CBE (12 May 190326 December 1989) was an English composer. Biography Berkeley was born on 12 May 1903 in Oxford, England, the younger child and only son of Aline Carla (1863–1935), daughter of Sir James ...

for composition and won a prize as best instrumentalist in his year. After graduating, he taught at Trinity College Glenalmond and subsequently (1954–64) at

Lancing College Lancing College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding school, boarding and day school) for pupils aged 13–18 in southern England, UK. The school is located in West S ...

and was Senior Assistant for Music Presentation for the BBC. In 1965 he became the Staff Tutor in Music for the Oxford University Department for External Studies, stepping down in 1982 to focus more on performance and music.

Career

Headington had been composing for most of his adult life: His Violin Concerto of 1959 (described by

Sibelius Jean Sibelius (; ; born Johan Julius Christian Sibelius; 8 December 186520 September 1957) was a Finnish composer of the late Romantic and early modern periods. He is widely regarded as his country's greatest composer, and his music is often ...

expert Robert Layton as "accomplished and beautiful"), premiered in 1959 by Ralph Holmes, was finally recorded in 1991 on

ASV Records ASV Records was a London-based record label set up by Harley Usill, founder of Argo Records (UK), Argo Records, Decca producer and former Argo general manager, Kevin Daly, and producer Jack Boyce, after Argo's parent company Decca Records, Decc ...

(with Xue-Wei as soloist and the

London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...

under

Jane Glover Dame Jane Alison Glover (born 13 May 1949) is a British conductor and musicologist. Early life Born in Helmsley, Glover attended Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. Her father, Robert Finlay Glover, MA ( TCD), was headmaster of Mon ...

) and brought him wide recognition. Headington also wrote several pieces of chamber music: his Third String Quartet, composed to mark

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's 250th anniversary, reworks material from Haydn's Quartet op. 77 no. 2. Headington's solo piano pieces were strongly influenced by

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism in music, Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composer ...

and Chopin. His song-cycle, ''The Healing Fountain'', was written in tribute to

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

, and Headington ranked it as his finest achievement. His Piano Concerto of 1991 was also recorded by ASV (with Gordon Fergus-Thompson as soloist) as part of a posthumous collection released in 1997. He was a contributor to ''

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 ...

'' magazine and '' Country Life''. He also wrote a book on Chopin (Pavilion Books/Classic FM). He contributed to Alan Walker's Franz Liszt symposium (Barrie & Jenkins 1970), ''The Dictionary of Composers'' (Book Club Associates 1977), ''Building a Library'' (OUP 1979), ''The Britten Companion'' (Faber 1984), ''A Companion to the Concerto'' (Christopher Helm 1988), ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Classical Music'' (Salamander Books 1989), ''A Guide to Classical Composers'' (ed Gammond, Colour Library Books 1994), ''International Dictionary of Opera'' (St James Press 1993). He wrote for ''The Inventions That Changed The World'' (Reader's Digest 1982) and ''The Fontana Biographical Companion to Modern Thought'' (Fontana 1983) Headington made few concert appearances. He was piano soloist on the soundtrack of the 1978 film ''

The Thirty Nine Steps ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' is a 1915 adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, first published by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It was serialized in ''All-Story Weekly'' issues of 5 and 12 June 1915, and in ''Blackwood's Mag ...

'' (the composer was

Ed Welch Edward William Welch (born 22 October 1947) is an English songwriter, composer, conductor and arranger. Early life and education Ed Welch had a classical music upbringing. He attended Christ Church Cathedral School from 1957–1961, where ...

). He also went on to release four further albums on CD as performer. Headington was a professional music advisor to the estate of the late JRR Tolkien with whom he had been a friend. He was also an examiner for the

Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music The ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) is an examination board and registered charity based in the United Kingdom. ABRSM is one of five examination boards accredited by Ofqual to award graded exams and diploma qualification ...

(ABRSM) during the 1980s and in March 1985 assessed students on the island of Barbados under the administration of John George Fletcher (the ABRSM representative from 1969 to 2000).

Death

Headington died in a skiing accident in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

in 1996, aged 65.

Works

*''The Orchestra and Its Instruments'' (Bodley Head 1965) *''A History of Western Music'' (Bodley Head 1974, revised 2nd edition 1980, also Schirmer US edition and Paladin paperback) *''Illustrated Dictionary of Musical Terms'' (Bodley Head 1980, also Hamlyn paperback, Harper Row in US, Dutch translation Gaade Amerongen) *''The Performing World of the Musician'' (Hamish Hamilton 1981) *''Britten'' (Eyre Methuen 1981, US edition Holmes & Meier) and later rewritten for Omnibus Press *''Listener's Guide to Chamber Music'' (1982 Quarto Books New York, also Blandford Press UK) *''Opera: A History'' (Bodley Head 1987 Arrow paperback 1991) *''Sweet Sleep'' (Garamond & in US Clarkson Potter) - this is an anthology of lullabies. *''Peter Pears: A Biography'' (Faber & Faber 1992). *''J.S. Bach In Association with Classic FM'' (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Headington, Christopher 1930 births 1996 deaths Musicians from London Alumni of the Royal College of Music People educated at Lancing College English classical composers English classical pianists British male classical pianists 20th-century British classical composers 20th-century British classical pianists 20th-century English composers English male classical composers 20th-century British male musicians Britten scholars