Music at Balliol College, Oxford

The musical tradition at Balliol College, Oxford was established in the period 1870 to 1893 when Benjamin Jowett was Master there, with an organ introduced in the college chapel in 1874.[1] On the arrival of John Farmer as organist in 1885, a series of classical concerts on Sunday evenings began, taking place in the college hall, which became a fixture.[2] Balliol College did not offer music as an undergraduate subject, and the University of Oxford did not establish a Music Department until 1950.[3] Ernest Walker, Balliol's Director of Music 1901–1925, over his time in Oxford "had immense influence on a whole generation of musicians."[4]

Susan L. F. Wollenberg wrote "From their inception in 1885 the Balliol concerts showed special features".[5] Edward Heath wrote in 1986:

The Balliol Concerts not only play a major part in the life of the College, they are also a unique aspect in the musical activities of the whole university [...] It is by this means that so many generations of Oxford men and women have come to know and love the greatest chamber music in the world played by the leading artists of the day.[6]

The 1,950th Balliol concert was given on 7 November 2024 by Raphael Wallfisch and Simon Callaghan (piano). The programme included cello works of Walker, along with works by Schubert, Schumann, and Beethoven.

Sunday evening concerts

The Sunday evening music concerts are organised by the Balliol College Musical Society to bring chamber music to a wider audience. Notable musicians who have performed include:

Musician Instrument Born
Fanny Davies[7] pianist 1861
Nikolai Medtner[7] pianist 1879
Arthur Rubinstein[7] pianist 1887
Solomon[7] pianist 1902
Claudio Arrau[7] pianist 1903
Vlado Perlemuter pianist 1904
Yehudi Menuhin[7] violinist 1916
Hephzibah Menuhin[7] pianist 1920
Busch Quartet[7] quartet 1919
Dame Felicity Lott soprano 1947
Pascal Rogé pianist 1951
András Schiff pianist 1953
Raphael Wallfisch cellist 1953
Anne Schwanewilms soprano 1967
Vienna Piano Trio[8] trio 1988

The Society was established in 1885 by John Farmer, formerly the music master of Harrow School, who was invited by the then Master, Benjamin Jowett, to become Director of Music. These concerts were the first secular Sunday concerts in England. Attendees included not only students but also guests including Robert Browning, Lord Coleridge and T. H. Huxley. The 1,000th concert of the Society was given in 1937 . The series continued without interruption through World War II.[9]

The atmosphere at the concerts was described by Edward Heath:

These concerts had one tradition that no other college maintained. At the end of the concert, when the applause for the final item was dying, the Master sitting in the front row, waved his programme aloft. The whole audience rose, faced the organ at the back of the Hall and sang the Chorale printed on the programme sheet. It gave the concerts a tremendous finale.[10]

Ernest Walker, Director of Music 1901–1925

Main article: Ernest Walker (composer)

L. E. Jones, who entered Balliol as an undergraduate in 1904,[11] wrote in his autobiography of the "moving spirit" in the Balliol concerts:

Thin, bent, etiolated, with a despondent black beard and a falsetto voice, Dr. Walker looked anything but the 'live wire' that he, in fact, was.[12]

Of the period when Walker was Balliol's Director of Music, it has been said "Many of the most important figures in the English musical world played at Balliol at this time".[13] They included:

Margaret Deneke of Lady Margaret Hall came under the influence of Walker and Donald Tovey. She and her sister Helena held concerts at their home Gunfield, where Busch and Marie Soldat-Roeger played.[17] Variations on a Theme of Joachim (Op. 40, published 1927) by Walker was given its premiere at Balliol by Jelly d'Arányi.[18][19]

Walker's successor as Balliol's Director of Music was William Henry Harris. While running the concert series from 1925 to 1933, he was organist for other Oxford colleges.[20]

Musicians associated with Balliol College

Image Name Join Date Field of work Comments Refs
Cristoph Denoth 2006 guitarist artist in residence 2006-9

Professor, RCM

 [21]
Miron Fyodorov 2004 hip hop Russian artist Oxxxymiron [22]
Oliver Weindling 1974 jazz Original member, Oxcentrics jazz band. Founded jazz Babel Label and the Vortex Jazz Club in East London [23]
Christopher Page 1971 musicologist medieval music [24]
Nicholas Kenyon 1969 BBC Radio 3 Organiser BBC Proms [25]: 450 
Vernon Handley 1951 conductor supported British composers [25]: 246 
Edward Heath 1935 organist, conductor Prime Minister [25]: 107 
George Malcolm 1934 harpsichordist Master of Music, Westminster Cathedral [25]: 102 
Richard Buckle 1934 Ballet Founded Ballet magazine [25]: 98 
Sydney Carter 1933 songwriter "Lord of the Dance" [25]: 90 
Inglis Gundry 1923 composer lecturer on musical appreciation [25]: 30 
Victor Hely-Hutchinson 1920 composer, conductor, pianist switched to RCM after one year

"Carol Symphony"

 [26]: 219 [27]
F. S. Kelly 1900 composer Olympic gold medallist in rowing [26]: 62 
Donald Tovey 1895 composer Essays in Musical Analysis [25]: 43 
Ernest Walker 1887 composer Honorary Fellow [25]: 22 
John Farmer 1885 Director of Music organist, composer and keyboardist [28]
Sir Harold Boulton 1878 songwriter "Skye Boat Song" [25]: 4 
Julian Sturgis 1868 librettist "the best serious librettist of the day" (W.S.Gilbert)

FA Cup Final winner

 [29]: 55 

Organs and organ scholars

Jowett gave an organ by Henry Willis & Sons for the college hall, in 1885.[30] In 1938 Harrison & Harrison built a new organ for the college chapel, replacing the original organ.[31]

The college funds an organ scholar. One was the former Prime Minister Edward Heath. Organ scholars noted in other fields include Christopher Longuet-Higgins from 1942,[32] and Ronald Gordon from 1945.[33]

References

  1. ^ Kelly's directory of Berkshire, Bucks and Oxon. Kelly's directories Ltd. 1883. p. 627.
  2. ^ Jones, John. "Farmer, John (1835–1901)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/33081. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  3. ^ Robin Darwell-Smith and Susan Wollenburg (2023). Music in Twentieth-Century Oxford: New Directions. Boydell Press. p. 122. ISBN 978-1783277247. Retrieved 2 January 2025.
  4. ^ Arnold, Denis (1983). The New Oxford Companion to Music. Vol. 2. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 1963. ISBN 0193113163.
  5. ^ Brock, M. G.; Curthoys, M. C. (16 November 2000). Nineteenth-Century Oxford. Vol. VII: Part 2. Clarendon Press. p. 437. ISBN 978-0-19-155966-2.
  6. ^ A history of 100 years of classical concerts at Balliol College, Oxford with a foreword by the Rt Hon Edward Heath and a preface by Arthur Burns and Robin Wilson (1986). The Balliol Concerts: A Centenary History. Balliol College Musical Society.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "History – Balliol College Musical Society".
  8. ^ "Wiener Klaviertrio • Vienna Piano Trio". Wiener Klaviertrio • Vienna Piano Trio.
  9. ^ History Balliol College Musical Society Society website. Accessed 1 January 2025
  10. ^ Heath, Edward (1997). Music: a joy for life. Pavilion. ISBN 978-1862050907.
  11. ^ Balliol College Oxford (1914). The Balliol College Register, 1832-1914. private circulation. p. 178.
  12. ^ Jones, Sir Lawrence Evelyn (1956). An Edwardian Youth. Macmillan. p. 104.
  13. ^ Darwall-Smith, Robin; Wollenberg, Susan (2023). Music in Twentieth-century Oxford: New Directions. Boydell & Brewer. p. 133. ISBN 978-1-78327-724-7.
  14. ^ The Musical Gazette. 1899. p. 92.
  15. ^ Tully, Potter. Adolf Busch. Vol. 1. Boydell & Brewer. p. 149. ISBN 978-0-907689-78-2.
  16. ^ a b Dibble, Jeremy. "Walker, Ernest (1870–1949)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36688. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  17. ^ Robinson, Andrew (3 September 2019). Einstein on the Run: How Britain Saved the World's Greatest Scientist. Yale University Press. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-300-23476-3.
  18. ^ "Variations on a theme of Joachim, Op.40 (Walker, Ernest) - IMSLP". imslp.org.
  19. ^ Macleod, Joseph (29 November 2021). The Sisters d' Aranyi. Routledge. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-000-48130-3.
  20. ^ Cooke, Mervyn. "Harris, Sir William Henry (1883–1973)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/31204. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  21. ^ Christoph Denoth (guitar), Hyperion Records accessed 13 December 2025
  22. ^ Tsyptsyna, Iana (11 November 2017). "More than punch lines and rhymes: Dizaster v Oxxxymiron". The Oxford Student. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  23. ^ Balliol College Register (Seventh Edition) p572
  24. ^ Knighton, Tess; Skinner, David (2020). Music and Instruments of the Middle Ages: Essays in Honour of Christopher Page. Boydell & Brewer. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-78327-556-4.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Balliol College Register (Fifth Edition) by John Jones and Sally Viney 1983
  26. ^ a b Balliol College Register (Third Edition) by Ivo Elliott 1953
  27. ^ "A Carol Symphony Part I". British Classical Music: The Land of Lost Content. 27 December 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2025.
  28. ^ History Balliol College Musical Society Society website. Accessed 1 January 2025
  29. ^ Balliol College Register (Second Edition) by Ivo Elliott 1934
  30. ^ "NPOR, The National Pipe Organ Register Oxfordshire, Oxford, Balliol College Hall, Broad Street, [N11092]". npor.org.uk.
  31. ^ "Restoration of the Chapel organ, Balliol College". www.balliol.ox.ac.uk.
  32. ^ Murrell, John. "Higgins, (Hugh) Christopher Longuet- (1923–2004)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/93593. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
  33. ^ Peart-Binns, John S. "Gordon, (Archibald) Ronald McDonald (1927–2015)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.109867. (Subscription, Wikipedia Library access or UK public library membership required.)
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