Christopher Brown (British composer)

Christopher Roland Brown (born 17 June 1903) is a British composer.[1] He was born in Tunbridge Wells.[2] and from the age of 9 he was a chorister at Westminster Abbey. He studied under director of music David Lepine at Dean Close School, Cheltenham,[3] and then at the Royal Academy of Music with Lennox Berkeley, and with Boris Blacher at the Hochschule für Musik in Berlin.[4][5] He was also a choral scholar at King's College, Cambridge between 1962 and 1965.[2] In 1969 Brown went on to teach composition at the Royal Academy, where he stayed for nearly 40 years:[6][7] his pupils there and at Cambridge included Kit Armstrong, Charlotte Baskerville, Dominy Clements, Jonathan Pitkin and John Webb. He is a composition supervisor at the University of Cambridge and has been active as conductor (of the Huntingdonshire Philharmonic, Cambridge Players, New Cambridge Singers and Dorset Bach Cantata Club), choral trainer and examiner.[8][9]

Much of his work has been choral or vocal, including Three Shakespeare Songs (1965), Elegy (1967, for speaker, soloists, chorus and brass quintet), the Herrick Songs (1971), Hodie Salvator Apparuit (1971, described by Rob Barnett as "one of the finest extended choral items in the British repertoire" and performed by Stephen Wilkinson with the BBC Northern Singers),[10] and Mass for 4 Voices (1992). A Hymn to the Holy Innocents (1965) was his first large scale choral work, scored for chorus and orchestra. It was followed by David (1970), Chauntecleer (1980), Magnificat (1980), The Vision of Saul (1983), Landscapes (1986) and The Circling Year (1989).[6] There are several song cycles (Wordsworth Songs 1969, The Snows of Winter 1971, Seascape 1981), and four operas for children: The Split Goose Feather (1979), The Ram King (1981),[11] The Two Lockets (1988) and Die Schwindlerin (1990).[5][4]

His orchestral works include a five movement Sinfonia (1970),[12] The Sun: Rising (1977), Triptych: Three Symphonic Pieces after Dürer (1978), an Organ Concerto (1979) and Ruscelli d’Oro (1990).[8] There is also much chamber music. Brown's String Quartet No 1 was the winner of the first Guinness Prize for Composition in 1970, and his String Quartet No 2 (1975) won first prize in the Washington International Competition Prize. He also won the Prince Pierre of Monaco Prize in 1976.[13]

More recent compositions include A Five-Gated Well (2009), written for the choirs of Clare College and Trinity College, Cambridge, setting poems by Rowan Williams, and the 24 Preludes and Fugues, composed between 2011 and 2019 and published in 2020. A recording of the set, performed by Nathan Williamson, was issued by Lyrita in 2024.[14]

  1. ^ Jones, Barrie (3 June 2014). The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music. Routledge. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-135-95018-7. Brown, Christopher (1943- ) English composer. He studied with Lennox Berkeley and Boris Blacher.
  2. ^ a b Matthew Greenall. 'Brown, Christopher (Roland)', in Grove Music Online (2001)
  3. ^ The Musical Times. Musical Times Publications Limited. 1970. p. 796. Christopher Brown is the composer of this month's Music Supplement; his cantata ... Dean Close School, Cheltenham, and came up as an alto Choral Scholar to King's College, Cambridge in 1962.
  4. ^ a b Who's Who in Music, Fifth edition (1969), p. 39
  5. ^ a b Composer Christopher Brown on Lennox Berkeley as teacher, Lennox Berkeley Society
  6. ^ a b 'Christopher Brown', Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music, 6th edition, revised (2012)
  7. ^ Kennedy, Michael (27 June 1985). The Oxford Dictionary of Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-19-311333-6. On staff RAM from 1969.
  8. ^ a b Christopher Brown. Wise Music Classical
  9. ^ Christopher Brown biography, Musography
  10. ^ 'Stephen Wilkinson, The Sunlight on the Garden', reviewed by Rob Barnett at MusicWeb International (2017)
  11. ^ "The Ram King". Opening Night! - Spotlight at Stanford. Retrieved 3 February 2024 – via Stanford Libraries. Premiere Date: 1982.
  12. ^ Philip Radcliffe. 'Christopher Brown', in The Musical Times, Vol. 111, No. 1530 (August 1970), pp. 796-798
  13. ^ Cummings, David M. (2000). International Who's who in Music and Musicians' Directory: (in the Classical and Light Classical Fields). Psychology Press. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-948875-53-3. Honours include: Guiness Prize for Composition, 1974, 1976; Prince Pierre of Monaco Prize, 1976; Washington International Composition Prize, 1976.
  14. ^ "Christopher Brown: 24 Preludes and Fugues - British Music Society". 23 January 2024. Retrieved 3 February 2024.