Christopher Evelyn Bunting (8 August 1924 – 28 July 2005) was an English

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

. He had an international reputation, and was a highly regarded teacher; he gave first performances of notable cello concertos.

Life

Bunting was born in London in 1924. His father was a civil engineer in India, and an amateur pianist; his mother, also an amateur musician, played cello and piano. He played the piano from age five, and the following year began playing the cello, studying with

Ivor James Ivor James CBE (1882–1963) Percy A. Scholes. "James, Ivor". ''Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music''. Oxford University Press, 1964. was a British cellist. He taught for many years at the Royal College of Music; among his pupils were those who beca ...

."Christopher Bunting"
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The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', 10 August 2005. He began an engineering course at Bristol University, but abandoned this and studied music at Cambridge University. Studies were interrupted by army service during the Second World War; he finally gained his music degree in 1947. At about this time he studied with

Maurice Eisenberg Maurice Eisenberg (February 24, 1900 - December 13, 1972) was a cellist, both performer and teacher. Biography Born in Königsberg in a family of a cantor, he was brought to the United States when he was two years old as his parents moved there i ...

, both in the USA and during Eisenberg's visits to England."Christopher Bunting"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 5 August 2005. In 1952 he gave a successful debut recital at the

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

with pianist

Gerald Moore Gerald Moore Order of the British Empire, CBE (30 July 1899 – 13 March 1987) was an England, English classical music, classical pianist best known for his career as a Collaborative piano, collaborative pianist for many distinguished musicians. ...

, and soon afterwards travelled to take up a scholarship studying with

Pablo Casals Pau Casals i Defilló (Catalan: ; 29 December 187622 October 1973), usually known in English by his Castilian Spanish name Pablo Casals,

Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales Prades (; ) is a subprefecture of the Pyrénées-Orientales department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 6,063. Prades is the capital of the historical Conflent comarca. Its inhabitants are cal ...

. His own teaching was influenced by Casals's detailed analysis of music performed; Bunting came to be regarded as a demanding but inspirational teacher. He was an accomplished pianist, and often played sonatas with his students. For six years from 1963 he taught at the

Yehudi Menuhin School The Yehudi Menuhin School is a Specialist school, specialist music school in Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey, England, founded in 1963 by violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. The current director of music is the British classical pianist Ashley Wass. ...

. For many years he was professor of cello at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

."Christopher Bunting"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 6 August 2005. In 1955 at the

Cheltenham Music Festival The Cheltenham Music Festival is a British music festival, held annually in Cheltenham in the summer months (June, July) since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 200 ...

, Bunting gave the first performance of Gerald Finzi's Cello Concerto; he had been involved in its composition. In 1967 he gave the first performance of

Alan Rawsthorne Alan Rawsthorne (2 May 1905 – 24 July 1971) was a British composer. He was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, and is buried in Thaxted churchyard in Essex. Early years Alan Rawsthorne was born in Deardengate House, Haslingden, Lancashire, to Hu ...

's Cello Concerto, and he also gave the first British broadcast performance of Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto. He acquired an international reputation. He gave duo recitals with pianists

Yonty Solomon Jonathan "Yonty" Solomon (6 May 193726 September 2008) was a South African pianist. He played with many of the world's best-known orchestras. Biography Solomon was born in Cape Town, the youngest of seven children of a family from Lithuania. At ...

Peter Wallfisch Hans Peter Wallfisch (20 October 1924 – 10 November 1993) was a concert pianist and teacher, resident in Britain from 1951. Life Wallfisch was born in Breslau, Lower Silesia, in 1924. In 1938 he emigrated to Palestine; he studied at the Jerusa ...

and others, and gave

master class A master class is a Class (education), class given to students of a particular Academic discipline, discipline by an expert of that discipline—usually music, but also science, painting, drama, games, or on any other occasion where skills are b ...

es. In 1991 he was elected president of the British branch of the European String Teachers' Association. He was appointed

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

in 2000. From 1994 his performing career ended; he suffered from a spinal condition which was never satisfactorily diagnosed, and was in a wheelchair, but he continued to teach. Bunting died in 2005, aged 80. He was married and divorced three times. He had a son, Mark, who predeceased him, and a daughter, Philippa.

Compositions and writings

Compositions include a concerto for cello and strings, which he premiered in 1984, a fugue for six cellos, and ''Elegy'' for cello and piano. He wrote "A Portfolio of Cello Exercises", and in 1982 he wrote "Essay on the Craft of Cello Playing".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunting, Christopher English classical cellists 1924 births 2005 deaths 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century English musicians Musicians from London Academics of the Royal College of Music Members of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century British male musicians 20th-century cellists