Christopher Kaye Le Fleming (26 February 1908 – 19 June 1985) was an English composer of choral music, pianist, teacher and administrator. Le Fleming was born at

Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

in Dorset. He suffered from defective eyesight from birth.Obituary, ''The Times'', 25 June 1985, p. 14 Nevertheless he sung in the Minster Choir (where

Edmund Fellowes Edmund Horace Fellowes (11 November 1870 – 21 December 1951) was an English musicologist who became well known for his work in promoting the revival of sixteenth and seventeenth century English music. Outside of music, he was a Church of Engl ...

was a canon), began learning piano and studied at the Brighton School of Music. His eyesight prevented him from attending the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

. But he performed the Schumann A minor Concerto under Dan Godfrey in Bournemouth and studied informally with

Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, who remained a lifelong friend. He then continued his education at the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

in London while studying piano with George Reeves (c1900-1960).David Francis Urrows. 'The Choral Music of Christopher Le Fleming', in ''American Choral Review'', vol. XXVIII No 3 (1986) He married Phyllis Mary Tanner in 1932 and there were three sons. They moved first to Southbourne and then to Fisherton de la Mere. During the war Le Fleming served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

, and in the mid-1940s medical intervention improved his eyesight. From 1943 he became a primary school music teacher and two years later was appointed Assistant Director of the Rural Music Schools Association. From 1946 until 1976 he edited the Association's journal, ''Making Music'' and continued as a teacher in various positions. After the death of his wife Phyllis in 1978 he married again, to Mary Carr. He was also a leading figure in the Composers' Guild of Great Britain. His last years were spent in Woodbury, East Devon.Obituary, ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 126, No. 1712 (October 1985), p. 620 He wrote an autobiography three years before his death, aged 77.Christopher Le Fleming. ''Journey into Music (By the Slow Train)'', Bristol, Redcliffe Press (1982)

Composition

Le Fleming wrote orchestral music (such as the ''Southwark Festival Overture'' and the orchestral suite ''London River'' (1956), music for plays, chamber music (''Hommage to Beatrix Potter'' for wind ensemble), educational music (the ''Peter Rabbit'' books for piano) and songs. But he is best remembered for his choral music. His first published work was ''Cradle Song for Christmas'', issued by OUP in 1929. The cantata for children's voices ''The Echoing Green'', op. 5, was composed in 1933 and published by J.W. Chester. On a larger scale the five movement cantata ''The Singing Friar: Songs of the Greenwood'', op. 9 for tenor, chorus and small orchestra, followed in 1937. Other choral works include ''Five Psalms'', op. 10 (1940), the Evening Service in D op. 22 (1953) and the cantata ''Valley of Arun'' op. 33 (1961), which uses a more dissonant, impressionistic style than his previous pieces. According to David Urrows ''The Christmas Triptych'' op. 38 (1966), consisting of three motets for six-part chorus, represents "a distillation of all Le Fleming's choral concerns: clarity of line and diction and a diatonic harmonic idiom inflected by chromatic parallelism". His piano transcriptions of Bach and

Johann Strauss Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well as a violinist. He compose ...

(including ''The Blue Danube'') have also remained popular.''The Blue Danube Waltz'' arr. Fleming, Chester Music
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References

External links

'I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes' from ''Five Psalms'', Liverpool Cathedral Choir, cond. Stephen Mannings

''A smuggler's song'', New Forest Children's Choir, performed at St John's Smith Square, 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Fleming, Christoper 1908 births 1985 deaths English composers choral composers British arts administrators English classical composers of church music Musicians from Dorset People from Wimborne Minster