Christopher Headington

(1930-1996)

 

This composer webpage is in the process of being finalised.  In time we will have further details about the availability of scores and performing material for the majority of works listed here.  In the meantime, should you have any particular enquiry about any of the music listed, then please contact Bardic Edition.

 

Born in London on 28th April, 1930, his early education was at Taunton School, Devon, and later as scholar at the Royal Academy of Music, London.  Following further period of education at Durham University, he studied composition with Lennox Berkeley.  In 1964, after a period of school teaching, he became senior assistant in music presentation at the BBC.  The following year he was appointed tutor in music at the Oxford University Department for Extramural studies, a post he relinquished in 1982 in order to devote more time to his creative work.  Alongside his composition, he was active as a writer and broadcaster, also traveling widely as a pianist and examiner.

In 1986, John Ogdon wrote of his 'extraordinary abilities as a pianist'' but although he shied away from making too many concert appearances, he did release 4 CD albums (1 of British music including two works of his own) for Kingdom Records.

Headington's music is beautifully crafted: its powerfully expressive and warmly lyrical qualities are already evident in the Violin Concerto (1959), whose 1991 recording by ASV (with Xue-Wei as soloist and the London Philharmonic Orchestra) brought him wide recognition.  The chamber music,  in particular the String Quartet No. 2 and the Piano Quartet, is cogently argued and serious in tone: the finale of the Third String Quartet, composed in celebration of Haydn's 250th anniversary, ingeniously reworks material from the latter's Quartet op. 77 no. 2.  Headington also wrote with assurance for his own instrument: the Cinquanta and Ballade-Image, both for solo piano, reflect his admiration for Debussy and Chopin, achieving an ideal balance between brilliance and poetry.  Equally significant are his vocal works, among them the song-cycle, The Healing Fountain, an eloquent memorial tribute to Britten which Headington ranked as his finest achievement.

Shortly after the recording of his Piano Concerto for ASV (with Gordon-Fergus Thompson as soloist), Christopher travelled to Switzerland for a skiing holiday where he died in an accident on March 19, 1996 aged 65.

 

LIST OF COMPOSITIONS

Orchestral

 

Chamber

Solo Instrumental

Choral

Solo Vocal

Stage, Film, Arrangements etc.

Sketches, Unfinished Compositions etc.*

*These works were found in a listing of titles registered with the PRS (Performing Right Society) but they were not included on the list of compositions provided to us by Christopher Headington at the commencement of our publishing association.  As a number of his manuscripts have still to be located, it is hoped that when found, the above listed pieces will be clarified.

Writings

Contributions to the following anthologies:

He also wrote for:

Recordings

These CD albums can be obtained from all good record stores or failing that write direct to:

Kingdom Records Ltd., 
61 Collier Street, 
London, 
N1 9BE.

Telephone: 020 7713 7788 or Fax: 020 7713 0099 or e-mail: kingdomrec@aol.com

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