Christopher Headington

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 and was a Scholar of the Royal Academy of Music. He studied with Sir Lennox Berkeley 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 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 expert Robert Layton as "accomplished and beautiful"), premiered in 1959 by Ralph Holmes, was finally recorded in 1991 on ASV Records (with Xue-Wei as soloist and the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Jane Glover) and brought him wide recognition.

He was a contributor to Gramophone magazine and Country Life.

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)